by Jacob Spears
“You can relax. It’s just a little woman-to-woman chat she and I need to have. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
Smooth eyed her suspiciously before answering, “She’s not here. I’m waiting for her to get back, and I’m sure she’s not going to want to do anything except sleep when she gets in.”
It was Miranda’s time to eye Smooth.
It was obvious she didn’t believe him. He pulled her by the arm to the room that he and China shared.
“Do you believe me now?” he asked, eager to get her out of the apartment. If China were to open the front door at that moment, he and Miranda would be dead meat.
He escorted her back to the front door.
“I miss you, Smooth.”
Smooth was surprised to hear the words come from her mouth.
“I miss you, too,” he said honestly.
“I can’t tell. Why haven’t you been by to see me?”
“You know why.”
“Oh yeah, that’s what I came by to speak to her about.”
Smooth gave her a puzzled look.
“The sex was good, but you and I both know that’s been over with ...”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t know that.”
“She will after our lil’ woman-to-woman,” Miranda said with confidence.
“You might want to swing by later after she gets some rest,” Smooth suggested.
“I’ll do that,” Miranda said, as she opened the door. She extended her arm for a fist bump.
“We cool?” she asked Smooth.
“Yeah, we cool.” He bumped fists with her.
He tried calling China again after Miranda had left.
Again, there was no answer.
He walked down the hall to Monica’s room and knocked on the door. When she didn’t answer, Smooth called her name and slowly turned the doorknob.
Monica had left the closet open. Smooth noticed the empty clothes hangers. He randomly pulled open drawers. They were all empty. He walked out of the room to where his phone was and dialed Monica’s number.
“Hello,” she answered.
“What’s going on, Mo?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Come on, Mo. How could you do this to her?” Smooth was pacing back and forth.
“Don’t try to make me feel bad, Smooth. What’s done is done! There’s no turning back. I need this money just like y’all do.”
“There’s no y’all. That’s all China’s money, and you know she’d give you anything you fucking asked for.”
“I don’t have to ask now,” Monica told Smooth.
“Look, China don’t know about what you did, so undo this, and let’s keep it between you and me. If you don’t, I swear, Mo, I’ll kill you!”
“I’m really scared now,” Mo replied, just before she hung up.
“FUCK,” Smooth screamed as he threw his phone against the wall.
* * *
Monica hung up the phone and got dressed. She had called the same cab driver who had acted as her personal chauffeur the past few days. There was a lot she needed to do today; and the sooner she got started, the better. She headed over to the safe, opened it, removed a stack of bills, and then locked it back up.
She headed to the lobby to wait for her ride.
While waiting, Monica’s thought went back to the brief conversation she just had with Smooth.
She wondered why China had not just called herself. What was the point of having Smooth call? Was it as he said? Did China not know yet?
Knowing China, she could easily believe Smooth. Had China known, she would have called herself. But why wouldn’t China know?
Monica was mulling this over when the cab pulled up.
She got in and gave the driver her aunt’s address.
“How are you doing today?” the driver asked.
“I’m good, Teddy. How are you?” she returned the question.
The two had started talking on one of the drives back to the hotel. From conversing, Monica had learned that Teddy was a single father of three boys. His ex-wife had walked out on them to travel the country with a young truck driver. The day she left was the last day he had seen or spoken to her. He’d hated her for a long time for what she had done to the boys, yet he was happy for himself.
“What do you have planned for today?” he asked.
“I won’t know until I get to my aunt’s house,” she told him.
For the rest of the ride, they drove in silence.
“Give me a second,” she told him, after arriving at Donna’s building.
Monica knocked on the door and waited. The noises coming from inside were all familiar to her. She heard the television blasting cartoons, her aunt’s voice ordering one of the kids to eat his breakfast, and some crying. She smiled and then tried the door, turning it to see if it was locked. It wasn’t. She slowly pushed the door open.
“MO MO!” her little sister ran to her screaming, while wrapping her arms around her waist.
“Hey baby,” Donna said, as she walked over to her niece to give he a hug.
The kids were all calling Monica’s name. She felt the love. She was with her family.
“Auntie, can I talk to you?” Monica asked, nodding her head towards the room.
“Sure. Michael, keep an eye on your cousins.”
In the room, they both sat on the bed next to each other. Monica waited before speaking, deciding on what exactly she would tell her aunt.
“Before you start ...” Donna held up her hand. “Don’t tell me nothing if you’re not going to tell me everything,” she spoke as if reading Monica’s mind.
“I did a horrible thing.”
“Baby, we can’t afford another mouth to feed. Why didn’t you use protection?”
Donna was shaking her head.
“No, auntie, I’m not pregnant!” Monica laughed. “It’s nothing like that.”
“Thank you, Lord!” Donna looked up to the heavens.
“Tell me, what’s going on, baby?”
“It’s me and China. We haven’t been getting along lately,” Monica paused.
“That’s what friends are, child. One day you’re best friends, and the next you’re worst enemies. Don’t worry about it. Tomorrow you’ll be best friends again,” she responded, patting the girl’s leg.
“I don’t think so, Aunt D. Not this time.”
“And you said it was you who did wrong to her?” she eyed her niece from the rim of her glasses.
Monica nodded her head.
“Was it Smooth?”
“No!” Monica answered impatiently.
Donna picked up the tone in her voice and addressed it.
“Don’t take that tone with me. You told me you wanted to talk to me, but you haven’t started talking yet. So don’t get an attitude with me for trying to figure out what’s wrong with you. I got things to do. Call me when you’re ready to talk.”
“I’m sorry,” Monica said, holding onto her aunt’s arm to prevent her from getting up.
She opened her purse and pulled out the stack of money.
“Oh, my Lord! Where did you get so much money from?” Donna asked, as she reached out for it.
“That’s actually nothing. I have so much more than that.”
“Okay, child. It’s time for you to start talking. Tell me everything. And what does this have to do with you and China?”
Donna listened as Monica told her everything that had taken place over the last couple days... ending with her sitting next to her aunt,
“And where did China get the money from?”
Monica shrugged her shoulders.
“Was it worth it?” her aunt wanted to know.
Monica thought for a moment and then answered, “Aunt D. Look at how you’re living. You deserve better than this. All she ever did was buy clothes.”
“Was it worth it?” she asked again.
Monica nodded. “Yeah, it was,” she said.
“That’s all that matters.
You have to live with what you did. What are your plans?”
“The first thing I want to do is get you out of this place. I’m talking like today.”
Donna smiled. She’d dreamed about leaving the projects. Now that it was in front of her, she wasn’t sure she could do it.
“I’ve been here so long, child, I don’t think about leaving. This is home.”
“Aunt D, this WAS your home. It’s time for something better. And I really want to do this for you. You deserve it. Let me do this for you.”
“Let me think about it. That’s a big decision, child.”
“You think about it. You need the space. Take this,” Monica said, as she took half the bills and handed them to her aunt.
“I need you to help me get a car,” Monica said.
“Okay, when do you want to do that?”
“Right now,” Monica laughed.
“Okay, let’s me get dressed.”
Chapter 15
China sat handcuffed in the back of the police cruiser watching the police officers talk to each other. She felt as if it was all a bad dream and willed herself to wake up. Try as she might, she couldn’t open her eyes to make it all go away.
She started crying again.
She tried breaking free of the handcuffs, only to give up after hurting her wrists. She couldn’t believe what was happening to her, but the pain reminded her it was real. The more she fought to get the cuffs off, the tighter they felt on her wrists.
She gave up when the officer opened the door and sat behind the wheel.
He turned to face China.
“I reckon your boyfriend is going to be pretty darn mad. Whatta you think?”
China wanted to kick the smirk right off his face. Her boyfriend. She thought about Smooth.
She knew that Smooth had been calling to find out exactly where she was. What was he thinking now that he wasn’t able to reach her?
“Can we talk about this?” China asked.
“Sure we can. What’s on your mind, little lady?” The smirk was gone.
China felt a sense of hope serge through her.
“Is there anything I can do to get you to take these cuffs off me?”
“Sure is,” the trooper answered.
China noticed the hungry look in his eyes. She hoped he wouldn’t proposition her with sex, but if he did, she would have to go through with it. Smooth would never know about it; and if he did find out, he’d have to deal with it.
“What do you have in mind?” she asked him.
“Well for starters, you can tell me where you got all that stuff from, as well as your boyfriend’s name and whereabouts would be nice. Whatta ya say to that?” he was smirking again.
China dropped her head.
As they drove to the jail, China noticed the trooper was very upbeat. Was he always like that, or was it the bust he’d just made, she wondered. Whatever it was, she didn’t like it.
When they arrived at the jail, the trooper got out and opened the rear door. When China stepped out, she felt the sun shining down on her and took it as a good omen.
Immediately, she perked up.
After being booked for one count of trafficking cocaine, China was given an 11-digit pin number to make her free phone call. She was told that the pin number would give her 10 minutes. She was thankful she would finally be able to talk to Smooth. She would have to wait, however. She was told she wouldn’t be able to use the phone until she got to her housing area.
“Follow me,” the officer said to China, after tossing her a bedroll.
As they walked towards the cellblock, the officer rattled off a list of rules. China was not paying attention. She only hoped the phone was open when she got there.
They stopped in front of the cellblock to which China was assigned. The officer spoke into the walkie-talkie and a second later, the door opened.
“Good luck,” China heard the officer say, just after she stepped in.
She ignored the stares from the other girls and walked straight over to the phone. With the bedroll in one hand, she held the phone between her ear and shoulder as she dialed Smooth’s number and then her pin number. Without ringing, his phone went right to voicemail. She was about to leave a message when the phone went dead. China turned to see a heavy-set, baby-faced girl about her height standing behind her. The girl had reached over China to press the dial lever.
Without thinking, China tried to hit the girl with the phone. With surprising agility, the heavy-set girl jumped back. They glared at each other, as several other girls came to stand behind the girl.
“COUNT TIME! COUNT TIME TO YOUR CELLS, LADIES,” the officer yelled.
China watched as the girls made their way to their assigned cells.
She didn’t move.
“You’re in cell one,” the office told China.
She looked at the numbers and then walked to cell one. She didn’t want to fight the girl, but she wasn’t about to let anyone bully or try to intimidate her. That would not happen.
The officer closed the door to the cell after China stepped in. She didn’t recognize the girl sitting on the bunk until she looked up.
It was the same baby-faced girl who had hung up the phone.
China dropped her bedroll and attacked her.
* * *
Smooth paced the floor, mad at himself. How had he not known what Monica was up to? And where the hell was China? He looked at his watch. He looked around for his phone and then remembered that he smashed it.
He now needed to get a new one.
Without giving Zorro a second thought, he picked up his keys and walked out.
Before exiting the building, he walked over to the front desk to use the phone. Smooth dialed China’s number. There was no answer. He tried to ignore the gut feeling he was beginning to have. He hung up and then called Roxy. He was glad to hear her voice.
“Hey Roxy, I need to talk to you,” he said, after she picked up.
“That’s what these devices were made for, boy. Talk!”
“Roxy, please not now. Something is going on with China and I don’t know what do to.”
“Something like what, Smooth?” Roxy was on her feet now.
“I don’t know. I got to get a new phone and then I’m coming over there.”
“Smooth, you call me and tell me something is wrong with my little sister, and you’re worried about a phone! What’s going on?”
“I’ll talk to you when I get over there,” Smooth hung up.
He drove to the phone store a few blocks away from his place. Inside, Smooth gave the sales clerk his phone number along with a story why he needed a replacement.
“And your account security code, sir,” she asked.
Smooth had no idea what it was, but he took a guess anyway.
“No, I’m sorry. That’s not it!”
Smooth couldn’t provide the four digits and therefore was unable to get his old phone number. He thought about driving to the location where he had purchased the phones with China, but he didn’t want to waste the trip to the store where he was. He purchased a new phone and left.
After leaving the store, the first thing he did was check his messages. There was nothing new from China. He called her phone, but just as he expected there was no answer. He left her a message. He also sent a text. With nothing to do except wait, he drove over to Ga Ga’s house.
Roxy was pacing on the porch smoking a cigarette.
All the time he’d known her, Smooth had only seen Roxy smoke on two separate occasions.
The first was when China had gotten her driver’s license and stole her mother’s car to go joy riding with Monica and two other friends. The joy riding led to a major accident, sending China and Monica to the hospital. Roxy had smoked cigarette after cigarette while waiting for a ride to the hospital.
The other time was when Roxy was waiting for the results from a pregnancy test and an HIV test she had taken. Roxy had attended a party and become carried away with the
alcohol. She had woken the next morning next to Snoop. She didn’t remembered sleeping with him. After telling her girlfriend about waking up next to him, she had been urged to get tested. Snoop was rumored to be HIV-positive.
That was more than two years ago.
“Where is she?” Roxy asked.
“I don’t know,” Smooth walked past her to take a seat on the porch.
“Is anyone here with you?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.
“No,” Roxy said, sitting next to Smooth. “What’s going on?”
“Roxy, please don’t repeat this to anyone. China would kill me if she knew I was telling this even to you.”
“Boy, you better tell me what’s going on with my sister.”
“I don’t know, Roxy. I might just be panicking, but my gut feeling is telling me something ain’t right!”
“What do you think is wrong?”
“China and I came across a lot of weed ...” Smooth began. He told Roxy everything except how they got the weed.
Roxy was speechless when he got through. Smooth had just told her things that most people would not even be able to imagine. And one’s imagination would be where she would be able to believe his story came from, if she hadn’t seen some of the effects from the money.
So, she finally asked. “Do you think this Jefe person did something to her?”
Smooth was shaking his head before Roxy got the words out.
“She was in North Carolina the last time I spoke with her. I think she got pulled over. She told me she was sleepy. If she didn’t get pulled over, she must’ve had an accident.” Smooth was on his feet with his hands interlocked on his head. “She won’t be able to reach me. I had to get a new number. If she calls, you make sure you call me.”
“I know. What happened to your other phone?”
Smooth hadn’t told Roxy about Monica, but he took the time to explain what she had done after she asked.
“We talking about the same Mo here?”
“Yeah, now she’s MIA. Right now, I’m worried about China. After I know she’s okay, then I’ll focus on Monica,” Smooth said.
Roxy heard the pain in his voice. She rose to her feet and opened her arms.
“Come here,” she pulled him in, giving him a tight hug.
