Faces of the Game (24 page)

              In less than six months, Chelle had lost both of her grandfathers and it didn’t bother her as much as it could have.  She did realize one thing, nothing in this world was certain but death.

Code Blue

              Chelle knew when she and Chip talked on the phone he meant what he said but in a reverse way, this was a code talk that the two of them caught on to while on the phone one day; some things were understood without a conversation.  “What’s up?”  Chip said into the phone from yet another number.  “Hey, where are you?”  “Umm, I’m in Charlotte.  Come to the Queen city.”  Chip said in a sarcastic tone, this meant he was actually in NY at the time.  Chelle didn’t know where to go when she got there, so she called her cousin Shi from her trac phone and told her she would be up there later.  Shi never asked questions, she was cool with it.  Chelle booked a last minute flight and went to the airport shortly after.  Chelle loved being in NY, it was like a lost past that she never really had the opportunity to experience.  She was born in Queens, but she never spent time there; she was always in Brooklyn because that’s where the majority of her mom’s family lived.  She wasn’t sure how this trip was going to play out, but she was ready for whatever at the time, she just wanted to see her babe. 

              She plopped down on the tan leather sofa couch in her cousins’ living room.  “Spill it”  Shi said laughing, she knew Chelle was up to something.  “Ok, where do I start?  Chip has decided to take this run thing to heart and he has been traveling the US.  Luckily he’s been going to places that are easily accessible.  I hate running around like this, but it is like vacationing until I’m around him and then I get nervous.  I think being in NY will make me less worried, they wouldn’t expect him to be up here.”  Chelle gasped as if she were out of breath from trying to spill the beans until the can was empty.  Shi looked half confused and half tickled, she was happy to see her cousin but she didn’t like her cousin being worried about a man when she was about to graduate.  “Well for starters, you need to be focused on what’s important.  He’s not going to be around forever obviously, so you should be trying to get straight A’s before it’s too late to brag about going out with a bang.”  Shi was very sweet, but she never sugar coated a thing.  Chelle loved her for that, she, Vae and Ash all had this persona and this is exactly what Chelle needed.

“I know,” Chelle gazed off into space she hadn’t thought about homework in almost three days.  She grabbed her bag and pulled out her laptop and connected to the wireless network.  She planned to do homework until she couldn’t do anymore.  As she reviewed her class assignments and realized that she wasn’t far behind she was slightly relieved, but Shi was right she needed to be focused on being the best student she could be. 

              “Meet me in Harlem on Second Avenue, in front of the Seven Apartments.”  Chip said into the receiver when Chelle answered.  “Ok, give me about two hours.”  Chelle said back into the phone.  “Alright” Chip hung up.  Chelle completed one of her assignments and logged out of the computer, she and her cousin talked about school and work and love life until she was dressed.  She threw on a Bebe sweat suit that he had bought for Chelle, it was a nice and breezy day so she didn’t need a coat and she couldn’t go without a jacket.  Chelle traveled by the C train into Harlem, she wasn’t too familiar with this side of town but she wasn’t worried.  As she approached the 3
rd
, 4
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and 5
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St stop, she hopped off and walked up the old steel stairs that led to the sidewalk.  As she was approaching the top of the steps, she saw two girls fighting for blood.  “Bitch” she heard one of the girls say, between hair tugging and face tagging it was on.  Chelle couldn’t help but stand there and catch a few minutes of the fight, everyone else was gathered.  “Beat her ass” she heard a voice in the crowd say, Chelle giggled and walked towards the meeting point. 
Welcome to Harlem, I definitely didn’t expect that when I got off of the train but that could have been anywhere.  It looks so rugged here, but from what I hear Bill Clinton and Mariah Carey have condos somewhere in this area. 
Chelle looked around; she knew she was getting closer to the area she was supposed to be at.  Harlem wasn’t crowded like Brooklyn or Manhattan; it was laid back a little.  Chelle actually felt comfortable, and relaxed she didn’t feel like she had to rush across the walkways or avoid stepping on feet.  Chip saw her from down the street; Chelle had passed the place they were supposed to meet at.  Chip got tickled, he walked fast so he could catch up with her, and she was strolling anyway.  When he got close enough, he grabbed her waist.  “What the...”  Chelle could tell it was him by his touch and smell, she started blushing.  “You scared me!”  She said laughing.  “Hey baby, where were you going?”  He said laughing; he scooped her off of her feet and cradled her like a baby for a few moments as he gave her a long pop kiss.  “Muuuuuuah” he exaggerated.  Chelle laughed, put me down crazy.  “Come here, I got something to show you.”  They walked in the opposite direction; they approached a tall brick building.  It looked like an old warehouse or plant from the outside, she turned her face up.  “Ew, why are we going here?”  She was afraid to walk into the building; it was old and looked like it could have possibly been vacant.  “Chill out, come on.”  Chip said assuring her it was ok.  Chelle joked, “If I see the Ninja Turtles and their God Father I’m jumping on your head.”  Chip laughed, he loved being around her she was silly like a kid but more mature than some women older than him.  Chelle loved being around him too, she could be goofy, and he was a little silly too.  They walked into the building and the inside was very intriguing.  It looked industrial yet classy; the ceilings were constructed with wooden planks in a sturdy design.  They walked over to the elevator, it was very nice, the inside had marble floors and the hallway leading to the apartment was trimmed in gold with cream and golden marbleized paint.  Chelle looked at Chip with a confused expression, he laughed “I know right” he said.  They walked into the apartment; it was a very spacious studio.  There was a California King bed that looked just like the bedroom set he had in Atlanta and Charlotte.  Chelle looked at him, “did you move your things?”  She asked him.  “No crazy, I just like this whole get up.  I don’t have living room furniture here, but hell I don’t need it.  All I have is a bedroom, a mini-kitchen and a bathroom” he said laying across the bed and flipping on the television.  Chelle walked over to the bay window and hopped up on the oversized window seal, it had Carolina blue cushions in it.  “Who decorated this little box?”  Chelle said jokingly.  “I did, give me a little bit of credit” he said as his voice slightly cracked.  Chelle laughed “Ok Chip” she said sarcastically.  She sat there for a moment and gazed out of the window, there was a nice view of Manhattan’s skyline.  She wondered for a moment if she could see herself living in NY, she was very familiar but not quite interested or was she?    “Talk to me, what’s on your mind?”  Chip said still watching ESPN.  “I wonder if I could live up here, she said hopping on the bed with him.  She strattled him and looked into his eyes.  “We could start over here, change your name, work under the table, let’s have a baby and call her CJ” … “Wait CJ? A little girl named CJ?”  Chip said laughing and tickling her sides.  “Chelle Junior!”  She said laughing uncontrollably, “Stop tickling me” she said laughing even harder.  He continued to tickle her for a few more moments, he got tickled himself just looking at her laugh so hard.  She finally slid over to the side and rolled on her back as she winded down from playing.  “Why didn’t you bring clothes?  I wanted to take you to a nice restaurant.”  Chip asked.  “Well, you know what that means!”  Chelle said, excited to go shopping.  “I don’t know where to take you up here, where do you want to go?”  “We can go to 125
th
Street; they have a big shopping plaza.  Oh, you would love their Dr. Jays too.  Please can we go?”  Chelle asked.  “You can only get one outfit and something for tomorrow, we still have to go out and you need a toothbrush, panties and all of that extra stuff.”  Chelle shrugged, “ok that’s cool.  I can actually wear this again tomorrow.”  “No, you can find another little jogging suit, I know you like those” Chip said with a smirk on his face.  He knew they were going to shop when she got there anyway, but she didn’t want much.  They spent the rest of the day enjoying each others presence; they ate at
Chez Lucienne a five star French restaurant in Central Harlem, the love birds spent the rest of the night at the apartment, in between the sheets.

Back so Soon

              After spending a few hours with Shi before she left, Chelle was headed back to LaGuardia Airport to go home.  She enjoyed spending the weekend in NY, but things were getting down to the wire, she had three weeks left in school and she was ready to make moves.  She almost wanted to move far away, to the unexpected place just to preserve her relationship.  At times she felt delusional for even wanting there to be a lasting relationship between her and Chip.  Time seemed to be flying, finals were approaching and she was becoming more anxious for countless reasons.  Chelle was restless when her flight arrived, she didn’t waste any time getting her two carry on duffle bags and jetting out of there.  She didn’t have any checked luggage; and she was glad because she was ready to get home. 

              As soon as Chelle got home she texted her cousin and Chip and told them she had made it, she then called her mother.  They briefly talked and Chelle dozed off.  She took a three hour nap and before she knew it, her phone was ringing off the hook; it was Ash.  “Hey sis, I was just calling you.  Where you been?”  Chelle sat up and looked at herself in the mirror for a few moments before she really woke up and started talking.  “Girl, I was in NY.”  Ash started laughing, she already knew.  They talked for a few hours; Chelle vented to her about this pressure that she was hoping made a few flawless diamonds.  Ash talked about summer school registration and how transferring colleges was a big adjustment.  Chelle cracked open her laptop and logged into blackboard to complete her homework assignments.  “Girl I’m thinking about just doing my homework for like three weeks ahead of time.  I’m not behind yet but I do have two things due tomorrow night at midnight.”  “You better get on it; you graduate in a few weeks sis!”  Ash was so happy for her friend she didn’t know what to do; she was a true friend as was Vae.  Those two had been there through thick and thin, she could be as weak as nature led her to be and they never preyed on her down moments; and likewise.  Chelle faintly smiled, she was happy but anxious.  Every time she thought about the turmoil going on, she began to feel strong anxiety but it only lasted a few moments. 

Family Ties

              “Remember when our limo driver got killed New Years?”  Tera called Chelle discombobulated.  “Um, yeah girl why?”  “Girl oh my gosh, so I just found out that the dude who shot him was looking for us.  The driver wouldn’t tell him where we were staying at, so he shot him.  I don’t even think he meant to kill him, or at least I hope he didn’t.”  Chelle’s heart skipped three beats and sped up, “what the fuck?” she was horrified at the conversation that was coming.  “Why, girl what did we do?  Oh my goodness, I am about to freak out.”  Chelle’s anxiety level was off the meter, so was Tera’s.  Chelle decided to get Neese on the phone before they continued the conversation.  “You busy?”  Chelle asked immediately after Neese answered.  “No girl, why do you sound like that?”  “Hey” Tera butted in, “girl when our limo driver was shot, the dude that shot him was trying to get our hotel information.”  “Why!?”  Of course Neese was just as disturbed.  “Okay y’all, I didn’t even tell Vette because I had sort of forgotten about it.  She didn’t come with us to the “A”.  Well she called me and said somebody was looking for Uncle Bryce.  The dude who is looking for him was in Cleveland asking everybody about him, she was checking Granddaddy’s answering machine and it was a man on there with a scruffy voice, he said ‘
I hope you get this message old man, I don’t want to harm your family but I do need my money.  If somebody doesn’t tell me where Bryce is, I will kidnap his nieces I know how much they mean to him
.’ Oh, and I heard it, she played it for me to listen to while she was over there.”  Tera had a nervous yet matter of fact tone.  “Y’all I wonder how much Unc owes this guy, because it’s definitely not worth us getting hurt.  We need to find out how much he owes him before this shit gets ugly.”  Neese called Vette, Tera called Vae, Vette called Chloe; they all sat on the phone to discuss in full the whole situation.  In the mist of their conversation, Neese received a text message
“I think that was your little voice on your conference call with your pretty ass cousins.  Your uncle owes me 130k.  If I don’t get it, shit WILL get ugly.” 
It was an unidentified number.  “Oh my God.”  Neese started whimpering like a small child, she ran to the bathroom and threw up.  “What the fuck?”  Vae said in a gasping voice almost that of a whisper.  “Neese, what?”  Chelle knew something wasn’t right, Neese usually threw up when she couldn’t handle something.  “Somebody just texted me.”  She couldn’t get out her whole sentence without crying.  “
I think that was your little voice on your conference call with your pretty ass cousins.  Your uncle owes me 130k.  If I don’t get it, shit WILL get ugly
.”  She read verbatim as she cried in between almost every word.  “Oh shit, what wait can we come?  South Park y’all cool?”  Vette said hoping they all followed her code talk, she was telling them to meet at Tera’s house, and she lived near an alternative school named South Park that was on the South Side of Winston-Salem.  They all hung up and left their main cell phones at home, Chelle called Ash from her trac phone as soon as she got in her car and gave her a brief on what was going on.  “Oh my gosh, let me tell Los what’s going on I hope he doesn’t snap.”  She said sincere, she was worried for them all and she knew Los would flip out but she’d rather him be aware of what was going on.  She hung up with Chelle and went downstairs; he was pacing back and forth talking on the phone with someone.  Murder was written on his face, and blood was in his eyes.  “What the fuck do you mean he needs 130?  I got 70 racks for this mother fucker to go away.  I mean that shit too, I want his ass to disappear.  Why the fuck is he messing with the girls, that’s what the fuck I want to know?  This mother fucker done lost his got damned mind, I will kill this mother fucker I swear to God I will kill his mother fucking ass.”  He screamed into the phone.  Ash stood at the foot of the staircase and leaned against the wall, tears rolled down her face she was so scared that she would lose someone close to her that night.  He punched the wall so hard that the oversized picture hanging over the sofa crashed and the glass shattered everywhere.  Ash jumped and let out a loud cry.  “Go to the bedroom, go upstairs, I got some shit to handle” he yelled, she ran up the staircase and hopped in the bed.  Ash said the longest prayer she could ever remember saying as tears rolled down her eyes.