“Who does she think she is? Turning to you like you want anything to do with her,” said Vanessa, bewildered by Holly’s shock appearance.
“Exactly, she wants to stir things up. Keep us wondering what’s going to happen next but I refuse to let her get to me now,” I replied, convincing myself that I truly felt that way. Soon after Vanessa dozed off but I couldn’t sleep. Call it a case of insomnia. The conversation was playing on my mind, like a complex puzzle. If it had anything to do with what Jamal was planning for me and my girls then I was anxious, but ready.
Chapter Eleven
After all the drama Holly brought round the other day, I thought it be best that my family and me got out of the area for the day. I knew a nice park around the suburbs of London that my mum used to take me and Maurice to. It was a special part of our childhood. I decided to take them there to have a chance to forget about the chaos going on and think about something humble. I had a surprise for Vanessa outside first. I had spent nearly every penny I made from my first single to get it so I hoped she liked it.
“Jayden what you doing?” she said, struggling as I tried to put the blindfold over her eyes.
“Well if you keep still then you will know,” I replied, shaking her gently. I slowly lead her downstairs and out the front door.
“I’m so excited,” she said, running on the spot. I loved it when I was able to make her happy. I took off the blindfold, “You didn’t!” she gasped with amazement.
“I did,” I replied, grinning at the new grey Mercedes sitting in front of me. “This is our new car.” She was speechless. She ran up to me and jumped in my arms.
“I can’t believe you got us a car. You’re such a darling,” she laughed, pinching my cheeks.
“Well now we have Shakira we need one. We can’t be jumping on public transport with all these mad people about,” I said, trying my best not to refer to Jamal.
“True but I don’t want you splashing out on us all the time, you worked hard for what you have. Thank you so much babe,” she said staring lovingly at our new vehicle. I smiled as I saw how happy she was.
“Get strapped in because I’m taking you and Shakira are to one of my favourite childhood places,” I said with great enthusiasm.
“Oh. What’s it like?” she asked curiously.
“You’ll see.”
***
We pulled up outside the two big gates at the entrance of the park and stepped out of the car. The park was crowded with young children running around, young adults talking on the phone and mothers picking up toys off the ground.
“This is really nice, Jay. We need to get a water fountain like that in our garden,” Vanessa said, pointing ambitiously. She was getting a bit excited that I had a bit of money in my pocket because she’d never experienced the high life before. We didn’t want for nothing now; I just wanted to gain some stability in the music game before making serious decisions like moving away. I laid out a blanket on the grass and put Shakira down to move about and explore with her eyes. All the quality time I spent with her was meaningful to me. Watching a baby grow provides a feeling that one cannot explain.
“Maurice and I used to play fight for hours whilst my mum lay on this very blanket watching us,” I told Vanessa as I recollected, looking at the sky.
“Well I guarantee you I can take you down right now so lets not even go there!” she laughed.
“Oh, is that what you really think yeah?” I said, standing up. I grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back, “So who’s strong now?” I boasted.
She pinched me and I fell to the floor twisted. “I’m a girl and I got you to the floor in less than five seconds. You need to fix up mate,” she grinned.
“That was just luck. Won’t happen again” I replied, enjoying the banter.
“C’mon then big guy, let’s go for round two,” she said, bopping on the spot with her fists before her.
“Nah, I’ll pass. I’m going to chill with my other girl” I said crawling over to lie next to Shakira.
Vanessa joined us before kissing Shakira on the cheek, “you okay baby girl?” she cooed.
“I’m going to the ice -cream van up there, do you want anything?” she asked.
“Yeah, chocolate ice -cream please. Want us to come with you?” I asked.
“No it’s alright, I’ll be back in a minute,” she said walking away. I felt blessed that I could sit in a park with my family without any stress. Well, that’s what I thought.
The park we were in was surrounded by three different postcodes. That meant three different gangs. Upon recognition of this, I knew there was bound to be conflict. It was hot summers day so everyone was out and about. A group of boys came and owned a bench. Minutes later a second group of boys approached the same bench, asking the other boys to move.
“Blood what you doing in our ends?” one spoke.
“Fam, at the end of the day, we were here first and I don’t see your name written on the park so you can’t tell us shit! Unless you’re going to do me something come out my face,” the other replied.
That’s all I heard before a major crowd of people started grabbing their children and charging in my direction. I picked up Shakira and moved out of the way to avoid being trampled on. The group of boys were fighting and it just got serious. The group sitting on the bench pulled out their knives looking to bore holes in their opponents, not expecting them to pull out there own blades. I knew things were about to get sticky and I didn’t want Shakira seeing someone get stabbed on our first proper day out together, whether she understood it or not. I promptly packed up our stuff and went to leave but then I remembered Vanessa hadn’t come back from the ice -cream van yet. When I scanned the area she wasn’t even standing there. I was getting concerned. Even though the commotion happened so fast it shouldn’t have taken her so long to walk up and back in the first place. The boys started moving up to each other again. You could tell that none of them wanted to do any harm to anyone but just to look big and keep a good reputation on the roads they had to; they had to prove themselves; portray themselves as people that they weren’t and, most importantly, people they didn’t want to be. I wanted to leave before the blood started to fall so I went to sit in the car and drove around the edges looking for Vanessa. After about half an hour I went back to the park and saw a figure lying on the floor in the distance. The boys had taken their beef to the roads so it was easy for me to run up and see the figure was Vanessa. She had a large cut on her head but her eyes flickered open.
“What happened?” I asked frantically, picking her up off the ground.
“I don’t know. I came back from the van and when I turned around everyone was running towards me and knocked me down. What was going on? And I’m bleeding,” she said acknowledging the pain.
“Let’s get you home and clean that up,” I said as I helped her into the car. I really hoped the gash was nothing serious. I didn’t want anything going wrong when I was so close to success.
When we got home I cleaned up her forehead softly. “That stings man. Take your time,” she complained.
“I am. You’re lucky you don’t need stitches because then you would really have something to complain about,” I smiled.
“True but you’re not exactly a doctor so be careful,” she continued. I placed some gauze over the cut and patted her on her head. “Mind you don’t mess up my weave, you play too much,” she said, hot and frustrated. I grinned as I stood up. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m going to the studio; gonna record a couple songs for the album. Is that okay with you?” I replied just to keep her sweet.
“Yeah course. I’m going to cook dinner later so make sure you’re back by then unless you wanna dish out your own,” she said, marching to the kitchen. I had myself a real woman; a woman that cooks and cleans; looks after Shakira and still has energy to cater to me too. I felt settled and that’s not something that happens often.
***
I made m
y way to the studio on foot. The walk was taking a while and my agent was calling me persistently so I took a short cut through an alleyway. As I went to turn the corner I saw a group of people stamping on something. Before I even got a closer look I turned back around and waited by the corner. I wanted to see but didn’t want to be see; whatever was going on, I didn’t want any association with. I peeked around the corner again but this time I recognised a familiar face. It was Joel. I focused further and realised that it was Crime Scene, but I couldn’t make out who or what they were stamping on. I waited until I saw that the boys were running off then took the opportunity to be nosey. When I walked closer I saw that the person they were stamping on was Myah. I was bemused. She was basically the boss of them. She made them into something and they turned on her. In some ways I couldn’t blame them. She treated and spoke to them like shit. I found it so hard to believe that I had thought being under her wing would get me somewhere.
“Jayden is that you?” she groaned, looking in my direction. I looked at her with devil eyes. For her to even acknowledge me made me slightly heave. “Help me please. I can’t move anything,” she sobbed. I just stared at her. At that moment I was feeling conflicting emotions. I actually considered getting her some help. Her eyes were black and blue; her nose was pouring with blood and her lip was split in two. Her face was literally like looking into a nightmare.
“After what you did to me, you want to ask for my help? Don’t make me laugh! Seeing you like this reminds me of something. Hmm let me try and remember, oh yeah, when you fucking set me up at my own party!” I said regurgitating my hatred towards her.
“I’m sorry. Please can you help me? I can’t feel my legs,” she struggled.
I had a good heart but it was no where to be found right now. “Give me a chance to think about that one…No! You can rot here after what you did to me. If I died that night, who would you really be asking for help now?” I spat as I walked away, leaving her reaching out and sobbing.
After my fierce encounter with Myah my mind was lost in the recording booth. I managed to get one song done before I realised all I wanted to do was go home. There was no point starting something if I couldn’t complete it at a high standard. I avoided walking the way I came just in case I saw her lying there all crumpled. It was hard enough doing it the first time but what can I say, she deserved it. She spoilt my whole mood to the point where I felt so down. Exactly how I felt when I lost Maurice.
Upon arriving home I checked on Vanessa to see if she was alright then went downstairs to watch TV. They were both sleeping so it was nice to have some me time. I don’t know why but I suddenly felt sorry for Myah. A wave of guilt washed over me for not helping her, but I could not have helped anyway. The thought of how I felt when I was lying there getting trampled on because of her jealousy refused to let me intervene. I knew if I stayed in the house my head would burst with questions of what happened and why, so I put my jacket on and went to the frontline. The way I was going to put my mind at ease was to directly ask Crime Scene what was going on. It was chilly outside so I tied my hood tight on my head. As I approached them they looked threatened by me as they couldn’t see my face, so Jason pulled out a knife.
“What’s man saying?” he said, trying to intimidate me. When I took off my hood and he realised it was me he calmed down and put the knife away. “Oh shit! Sorry fam, you just looked a bit bookie with your hood up,” he laughed. I wasn’t there to make any jokes I just wanted to know what I wanted to know.
“It’s cool. What’s going on with you lot anyway? It’s been a long time,” I said, breaking the ice.
“Nothing much really. Where have you been? We haven’t seen much of you round here lately since you released your first tune. By the way it’s a banger,” replied Joel, playing the track aloud.
“Safe for the support. I’ve moved up the road but man’s still about until I have enough money to move out the ends. What happened earlier with Myah? I saw you lot kicking her face in,” I asked, trying to appear disinterested. I didn’t want them to think I was spying on them when really and truly it was pure coincidence.
“That dumb bitch! I hope she dies there,” Jason replied with great annoyance.
“What did she do? You lot were united,” I probed further.
“After you got rushed at your party she cut out of the area. When we ran into her we asked her what went down with you getting beaten up that night and she told us she set you up with the same yute’s that killed Donny. We saw that as a major violation,” said Rico.
“How could she do that after she was the reason for Donny’s death in the first place? Then to take the piss even more she sets you up on your birthday with the same guys. That clearly means she respects the work they do and that can’t run with us,” said Jose, sipping his drink.
“You would never guess why she said she done it. Because I called her ‘Vanessa’ during sex one time and she was basically filled with that much jealousy that she wanted me dead,” I explained.
“Swear down that was all it was? So you lot couldn’t handle that between yourselves? She had to involve all them man for a minor domestic issue. She’s silly and silly girls end up where she is,” emphasised Joel.
“You lot left her crippled but she did deserve it. I even walked past and couldn’t bring myself to help her. Here you lot share this out,” I said as I pulled out a handful of notes from my pocket and put it in Jason’s hand.
“Blood there’s a good five bills here, bro. What’s this for?” “You man rode out for me when I needed you and trust me if I had more than that on me I would give it all to you. If you never jumped in that night I probably wouldn’t even be here right now. I had two stab wounds; three broken ribs and two black eyes with your help. Imagine what the outcome would have been if you didn’t intervene. You lot even sorted out Myah for me; it’s one less thing on my to-do list. This is just a little thanks and it’s the least I can do,” I expressed truthfully.
“Safe, but when we saw you getting beaten up we couldn’t sit back and watch with a box of popcorn. You’re our don, we had to get involved but I hear what you’re saying,” replied Jason. They all spudded me and said thanks for the money.
“I’m cutting back home now so I’ll see you lot around yeah?” I said, concluding the conversation.
“Cool, make sure you keep in touch,” they replied. With my mind easy I walked off into the night.
***
I arrived home to see Vanessa feeding Shakira in front of the TV.
“Jay have you seen the news? That girl, Myah, she got beaten up and she’s in a coma,” she said, sounding shocked. I didn’t know what to say because I knew that if Vanessa found out I had the chance to help but didn’t she would be disgusted. I sat next to her and watched the reporter.
“There has been another violent crime in the north side area of London. A young female, Myah Jones, has been found beaten in an alleyway leading to the south side. She was viciously battered earlier today by a group of men between the ages of 18-24 we have been informed by a witness. The men are yet to be found and her family are yet to be notified. That’s all from me tonight,” the reporter finished.
“I had feeling she weren’t going to make it but I guess she’s stronger than I thought,” I said, thinking out loud.
“What do you mean you had a feeling she weren’t going to make it? Did you know something about this, Jayden?” Vanessa said assertively.
“No but on the way to the studio I saw her lying there and I walked on. After what she did she wasn’t entitled to nothing from me,” I replied defensively.
“So you just left her? How could you do that? Obviously you must have seen the condition she was in and you walked off like she isn’t human. Yeah I disliked her very much myself but I wouldn’t have a cold heart to leave her dying in the street. What kind of person would I be?” she shouted.
“It wasn’t you that got beaten up in front of everyone you knew. It wasn’t you who she was playi
ng all that time but it was you why it ended up happening. You wanna know why she set me up? It’s because I called her ‘Vanessa’ during sex!” I shouted back. I know I seemed heartless but I couldn’t understand why Vanessa was sticking up for her.
“So what are you trying to say? It’s my fault?” she argued.
“No, now you’re just putting words in my mouth. Just forget it,” I said tired of the confrontation before it even began.
She ran upstairs and slammed the door behind her. Why was she siding with Myah after all the trouble she had caused? I did what I did and she was where she was. It’s wasn’t like I could turn back time and help her; even if I did, was it really going to make any difference? I went upstairs and knocked on the door. It was better to smooth out the tension rather than go to bed feeling angry but I got no answer. I opened the door slightly and spotted Shakira hanging off the bed.
“Vanessa what are you doing?” I said, rushing to grab the baby. Vanessa still didn’t answer. I nudged her hard but she just lay there. She’d been up here for less than ten minutes so she couldn’t have fallen asleep so fast. I felt Vanessa’s forehead and she was really hot. It was then I noticed that she had passed out. I was apprehensive about what could be wrong with her. I called the ambulance and put on Shakira’s jacket. What was happening to my girl? It was my entirely fault. If I didn’t say anything and she didn’t go through a tantrum she would have been perfectly fine. It seems like when one thing gets better, another gets worse. What was it now that I had caused?
Chapter Twelve
I waited impatiently in the waiting room for the news on Vanessa’s condition. I didn’t know what could have been wrong with her. I knew she had had a knock to the head when we were at the park but she had seemed fine. I held Shakira tightly to my chest. If the doctor didn’t come out I probably would have accidently smothered her.
“Hi I’m Doctor Kumar. Vanessa is in a stable condition and is sitting up now. That cut she had on the head was quite bad but it wasn’t the cause of her passing out. Sir, Vanessa is pregnant,” he relayed.
Tales of the Hood Page 10
