In Love with a Thug (10 page)

“This is hot, watch yourself.” She set the plate in front of me, then set Bryant's plate down. “Is there anything else I can get you?” she asked, cupping her hands in front of her. We both shook our heads no as she smiled and walked away.

“Look, I was eighteen. I had just graduated from high school when Melissa got pregnant. We then broke up because she is crazy as hell. Rain was born and I always said that I would be there to take care of her. Now we're in a custody battle.” He began to dig into his noodles.

“Okay. I'll meet her,” I responded. He looked over at me with a sarcastic smirk. “What?”

“You want me to cut your chicken up for you?” He giggled.

“No, I'm a big boy, I can handle it.” I placed the chicken in my mouth when his cell phone rang. He grabbed it from his pants pocket.

“This is my grandmother, I have to take this,” he said, getting up and walking in the direction of the restrooms. I began to feel the vibe of the music that filled the air. Jazz was never my thing but I loved the way the band kicked it tonight. I found myself not thinking that much about Darnell while Bryant was in the picture and to be honest, the only thing I was really thinking about was getting home to taste some of my candy.

“J.J., come on, we have to go,” raved Bryant who came back to the table tense and red-faced.

“What's wrong?” I demanded to know. He fumbled around in his pockets and threw eighty dollars on the table and grabbed my arm. Still I chewed the chicken and gravy as he dragged me from the restaurant.

“Baby, where did you park?” he asked with sweat beads forming on his head.

“I had valet parking. Bryant, what's wrong? What's wrong?” I gave the gentleman my parking stub.

“It's that crazy bitch. I'ma kill her,” he growled. We both stood there anxiously waiting for my car.

“What crazy bitch?”

“Melissa.”

“What happened?”

“I really don't know. All I know is my grandmother said that Rain was admitted into the hospital and she has to undergo surgery.”

“Okay, Bryant, calm down.” I turned to face him. “Where is your jeep?”

“I let my cousin use it. I took the bus here.”

“Okay, take a few deep breaths.” The valet drove up in front of us. The gentleman hopped out and Bryant and I hopped in. I jammed my foot on the gas pedal and sped off without thinking twice about leaving him a tip. I dodged in and out of the city traffic as I floored the gas pedal all the way down Broad Street. Rain was being seen at Einstein Hospital in the Olney section of Philadelphia. I had probable cause to run every red light that I came up against. Bryant's cell phone would not stop ringing and he had no intention to answer it. If it wasn't his grandmother, he wasn't answering.

I drove straight to the security booth in front of the hospital's emergency entrance.

“Baby, just go 'head in and I'll park the car,” I said as he hopped out and closed the door behind him. I went to look for the first available parking space and pulled in on the side entrance. I parked and ran in, not knowing what had happened and whom I would encounter.

By the time I got to the waiting area Bryant had already gone into the emergency area. There was no staff in sight to answer any of my questions. In the waiting room sat an old, fat, black guy snoring loudly, and a white lady picking her nose sitting next to who I assumed was her son who looked very sick. I took a seat closer to the intake door, then began watching TV.

The doors opened and out came an elderly, heavy-set woman with her gray hair tied into a bun. She waddled with a cane as she walked over to the pay phone. I tried not to let her know that I was watching her. Clearly I saw the resemblance and knew that she had to be Bryant's grandmother.

“Shit, I need another ten cents,” she whispered to herself, counting the change in her hand. She hurried over to the reception area where she found no one.

“Does anyone have change for a dollar?” she hollered over to the waiting area. The people that sat around us completely ignored her request. I stood up from my seat and reached down into my pocket and pulled out four quarters.

“Here you go, ma'am,” I said, pouring the change into her hand and taking her dollar with the other. I could tell by the look on her face that she was completely stressed.

“Thanks, Baby.”

I sat back down in my seat and began tapping my foot, wondering how long Bryant was gonna keep me waiting without a heads-up. I tried tuning out the sound from the television and the sounds of the old man snoring to hear her conversation.

“Hello, Matie,” the gray-haired woman greeted in a weak, out-of-breath voice.

“That damn girl done lost her damn mind this time—I'm down here at the hospital with my grandson and great-grand. She's only seven years old and her mother is acting like a stone nut. She shouldn't be acting like this if she's planning to have another child. Last week the school called and said that she was suffering from dry eye syndrome. Bryant and I took her to see the eye doctor and they prescribed some eye drops for her.” I pushed my chair over a little so I could eavesdrop better.

“So you know that Bryant is trying to gain custody of her. The other day when Rain came over, she had bruises on her arm from the beatings from her mother. I figured that that was only a mistake but this is the last straw. Now, this time that devil of a mother replaced her eye drops with Krazy Glue and now the poor girl's eyes are glued shut. The doctors are doing all that they can but most likely she'll be blinded for life.”

I turned my body around to notice the lady sniffing and putting Kleenex to her nose. I wish that she knew who I was so I could've comforted her. But what I did know was that I needed to comfort Bryant later.

At a distance there was yelling and obscene language coming from the intake area of the ER. The doors busted open as a girl fell down on the floor with Bryant yelling and swinging his fist forcefully behind her. There were two police officers and a few nurses crowding the scene. The gray-haired lady immediately ended her call and hurried to see about the commotion.

“I'ma kill you, bitch!” Bryant screamed as he was taken away by the officers. The people in the waiting area got up to see what all the ruckus was about. The man wasn't snoring anymore.

“Bryant,” I yelled with teary eyes. “Bryant.”

“Let me go, I'ma kill that bitch,” he yelled louder as the officers tried restraining him. The girl got up from the floor and stood in one spot, wiping off the bottom of her jeans. The closer I got to her I realized that she was the same girl who had come into my shop the other day.

 

“Bail set at ten thousand dollars,” said the redneck judge just before he banged his gavel on the desk. Bryant was being taken away by three county sheriffs for aggravated assault, simple assault, and resisting arrest. His grandmother almost fainted in the semi-crowded courtroom. I went over to her and gave her my hand to hold.

“Hello, Ms. Bernice. My name is Juan Jiles, I'm Bryant's friend.” She took my hand as I helped her from her chair.

“Hey, Baby,” she said teary-eyed. “I don't know what I'm gonna do now. His baby is very sick and he won't be able to do anything while he's in jail.” I could see that this poor lady had been through a lot. From the sound of her voice she seemed weak and it was only a matter of time before she would break.

“Don't worry, ma'am, I'll take care of it,” I said. She looked up directly into my eyes.

“How are you gonna take care of it, young man? I don't have that kind of money and I can't imagine asking
you
for the money. Besides, I don't even know you.”

“Don't worry about it, Ms. Bernice. Bryant and I are real cool and I know he will pay me back the money when he gets it,” I said in a sincere manner, hoping to calm her nerves.

“You're not a drug dealer, are you?”

“No, ma'am. I own my own hair salon down on South Street. I don't deal with drugs,” I lied. Well, even though I didn't deal with drugs, I still used them. As we walked out the courthouse, a group of young girls was making their way up the steps.

“Hey, Ms. Bernice,” said the petite girl with flawless skin and wearing a pair of Chanel shades. From her looks and her accent, I could tell that she must have been Puerto Rican. Her long hair landed on both sides of her shoulders as Ms. Bernice returned the greeting.

“Hey, Baby, how are you?” Ms. Bernice put her arms out to hug the pretty girl. “You're kind of late,” she said, looking down at her watch. “They done set his bail already at ten thousand dollars,” she added, embracing the pretty girl. The look on the girl's face was disappointment.

“Oh my God! Where am I gonna come up with that kind of money?” she asked.

“Oh, Baby, it's alright. This is his friend right here,” she said, pointing to me. “His name is Juan and he's gonna front Bryant the money until he gets on his feet.” The girl extended her arm to me as I put my hand out to shake hers.

“Hi, Juan, I'm Mariah—Bryant's fiancée,” she said, shaking my hand as Ms. Bernice interrupted.

“Yeah, Juan, Bryant and Mariah are tying the knot next month. Did he tell you?”

M
y heart fell to the pit of my stomach. I could not believe what I had heard. This bitch stuck her hand in my face showing off her perfect diamond. The smile on my face was a disguise against my broken heart.

“It's nice,” I said, still smiling at the Rican girl.

“Isn't it nice,” Ms. Bernice agreed. “What time are you gonna go bail him out, Baby?”

“I'm gonna go to the bank now and then down to the fifteenth district and pay the bail. “

“Okay, Baby. I'm gonna go on over to the hospital and check up on the baby. I'll see you there.”

“Ms. Bernice, do you want me to come along?” asked Mariah, tailing behind.

“No, no, Baby. You go on home and get some rest. I don't need another one of my great-grands in the hospital,” she teased. I began to chuckle a bit.
What does she mean by another great-grand?

We all parted our ways as I made my dash into my car. I sat behind the steering wheel thinking how I could be so naïve. When I was seventeen Father Tyrell would always tell me the heartaches and the bullshit that I would have to put up with when dealing with a so-called straight boy. My eyes began to water as I thought about the nice dinner we'd had last night. We came clean about everything and now that bastard was engaged. How so?

I neatly wiped my eyes clean before pulling out of the parking lot. Being as though things weren't going my way anyway I felt as though I could take my time bailing his ass out. Now that I knew who the girl was that came into my shop the other day, I could officially bring charges to her ass. I went down to the twenty-second district station and filed charges on her for assault and terrorist threats. Then I went past the salon to make sure business was running as usual.

By the time I got to the bank it was half past three. It was extremely crowded; I wrote my name down on the sign-in sheet and took a seat until my name was called. After about thirty minutes a light-skinned gentleman called my name.

“Mr. Juan Jiles,” said the gentleman. I got up from my chair and began to walk toward him. He extended his hand to shake. “Hi, I'm Rasheed Winters, how are you today?” he asked, leading the way to his desk with me following behind.

“I'm fine actually. It's a nice day outside.” He went to sit behind his oak desk as I sat on the opposite side. A tall, slim, young, corporate-type guy was what I needed in my life right now because these thug niggas were not cutting it.

“So what brings you in today?” I loved the way his eyes connected with mine. If only he knew that with every word he spoke, I would take those words and transfer them into my own fantasy.
How would you like to kiss my lips? Let's get away to a weekend in paradise.
I immediately snapped out my trance and focused on what he really was saying.

“Oh, what brings me in today?” I repeated trying not to sound stupid. “I need to make a large withdrawal.”

“Oh, you're going on vacation,” he said, turning toward his computer to look my number up in the system. I handed him the piece of paper with my account number written on it.

“No, not really. I wish I was, I need the money to get my brother out of jail,” I lied.

“Oh okay, I don't mean to be in your business. I'm just trying to make a little small talk, that's all.”

“Oh no, I don't mind,” I said, staring into his dreamy eyes. I could tell that he had my account up on the screen by the size of his eyes once he saw the figures.

“Okay, Mr. Jiles. How much are you planning to withdraw today?”

“I need about ten thousand five hundred, please.”

“Okay,” he said, going into his top desk drawer and pulling out a form. “I need you to fill out the top section and I need two forms of I.D. and you're good to go,” he added.

I filled out the paper and gave him all the necessary credentials he needed to process my transaction.

“Thanks, I'll be right back.” He got up from his seat, letting his long pole become visible through his tan slacks. He walked around his desk and over to the teller area to retrieve my funds. Sitting in this atmosphere brought memories into my mind. I could remember it all as if it was yesterday. My man, the gun, the shooting, the yelling. This wasn't something that I was proud of. It was something that happened due to my man's greed. Sitting there I allowed myself to rethink every aspect of that day from us leaving the house together to me leaving the bank alone.

“Here you are,” said Rasheed, walking behind his desk taking a seat. He handed me a lightweight envelope. I grabbed it and opened it to find a cashier's check in the amount of $10,500.

My head started to spin as I snatched the envelope from the desk and stormed out, thinking about what I'd just found out about Bryant and Mariah and how pretty she is. I rushed to my car, started the ignition and pulled out of the lot. I drove to the corner and pulled over to the curb. I was contemplating doing something that I never had done before. I didn't have any weed and along with that I didn't have a Dutch either. I reached down to the sides of the car door where I kept my stash of candy.

I looked to see about four rocks remained in the clear plastic bag. I began to crush each rock down to a powdery substance and placed a line on the back of my hand. I looked around to see other cars speed by as I inhaled the entire line of candy. My head spun rapidly out of control as I felt my body being pushed back into the seat. I sat there for about an hour getting myself together. And before I knew it the sun was setting and the moon made its appearance in the sky.

As I sat still in my car, I felt like I was moving at a full speed like eighty to ninety miles per hour. I saw my whole life flash before my eyes. I was high but not just off the white stuff I had snorted; I was high off life.

This drug had taken me back to a place where I didn't want to be. I sat there in the driver's seat, looking straight out the front window as if I was watching a movie. I saw my dad come into my room at night after my mother would go to sleep.

 

“Did you get your allowance for this week?” he'd ask as I sat up in my bed wiping the cold from my eyes.

“No, Daddy, I didn't. But I did everything I was supposed to do. I swept the kitchen floor and mopped it and I took out the trash.” He started to walk closer toward me and by that time my eyes were fully opened.

“Dad, can I ask you something?” He was standing in front of me in his boxers.

“Sure, peanut head, what do you want?”

“James and Larry are having a sleepover and I was gonna ask Mom but I knew she'd say no, so I'm asking you. Can I go?” I asked in a childlike manner.

“Well, I don't know, can you?” he asked as I sat there in my bed with a confused look.

“What do you mean, can I? I'm asking you, can I?”

“I'll put it like this.” He walked toward me and sat down on the bed next to me. “The answer lies in you; whether or not you should go. All you have to do is your deed and I'll let you do whatever it is you want.” He leaned back as his pole started to stand at attention. He looked at me and nodded his head in the direction of his penis. I knew from that point on if I did what he wanted me to do then he'd let me do what I wanted.

“Juan, do you remember sucking on your mother's breast when you were young?” he'd ask.

“No,” I answered.

“Well, you wouldn't remember because you were young but back then that's how she used to feed you with milk.”

“Oh yeah, I know because Aunt Ada does that sometimes with her baby. She breastfeeds her baby through her chest to create milk,” I said excitedly because I knew what he was talking about.

“So now act like my penis is your mother's breast, or better yet, act like it's a baby's bottle and you're a baby and suck it until milk comes out of it.” He removed his dick from his boxers and held it in both hands. I thought about it for a second and that particular night I hadn't had dinner so I thought if I sucked my dad's penis it would fill me up. It didn't. Instead it brought me a lifetime of heartaches and broken promises.

 

Still feeling weary, I managed to drive myself home without any luck of Bryant coming home today. I went home and went fast to sleep.

 

The phone rang loudly awakening me from my good night's rest. I continued to lie in the bed and let the phone ring. I jumped up and reached over to grab the cordless from its base.

“Hello,” I answered in a raspy voice.

“Yes, is Mr. Juan Jiles available?” asked the voice on the other end of the phone.

“Speaking.”

“Hello, Mr. Jiles, I'm so sorry to wake you. This is Doctor Watson from Pennsylvania Memorial Hospital. Anthony Wright has you down as his next of kin.” I jumped out of the bed, trying to gain my visual sense to see what time it was. The clock read 3:41 a.m. “It is very important that you come to the hospital's ICU immediately.”

“Why? Is there something wrong?” I asked in panic mode.

“Yes, we are having a slight problem and need to operate. In order for the operation to take place you will need to come sign the papers.”

“Okay, I'm on my way,” I said, walking through my dark room stumbling over clothes and shoes that lay on the floor. I threw on a pair of sweats, some sneakers and a baseball cap, jumped in my car and sped off.

The main entrance was closed so I had to walk all the way around to the emergency room entrance. I checked in at the front desk, letting the nurse tell me the direction of the intensive care unit. I took the elevator to the fourth floor where I met Anthony's doctor.

“I'm so glad that you could make it on such short notice, Mr. Jiles,” said the elderly white-haired doctor sporting a long white coat.

“That's okay. What's wrong?”

“Follow me, Mr. Jiles,” he said, leading me down the hall into a small room with a wooden table and two chairs. I sat down at the table as he closed the door and joined me at the table. He laid a folder on the table containing a few sheets of paper with Anthony's name on them. He lowered his head and took a deep breath.

“I'm gonna give it to you straight. Both of Anthony's kidneys are failing so we're gonna have to do an emergency transplant. If the surgery is not done within the next forty-eight hours he could die.” I placed my hand over my heart as my eyes began to water. I was speechless.

“How? I mean what?” I said, trying to get my words in order. “What do I need to do?” He placed his hand over mine.

“You will need to sign a few forms giving us permission to operate. But Mr. Jiles, that is the least of your concerns.” He looked directly into my eyes. “Can you or do you know anyone who can donate a kidney to him? We would have to run tests to make sure that there is a match though. Maybe we can get lucky right away.”

“No, he doesn't have any family. I'm the only one,” I stated with tears running down my face.

“Well, Mr. Jiles, I'll tell you what I can do for you. I will make a few calls to some of my colleagues with the hopes of putting Anthony's name at the top of the transplant recipient list.” My heart became heavier than it was before.

“I really would appreciate that,” I said as he gave me a tissue to wipe my nose.

“But for now we need to keep our fingers crossed, okay?” I shook my head in agreement.

“Is Anthony awake? I mean, can I see him?”

“Not at this time. ICU does not allow visitors at this hour but you are welcome to see him first thing in the morning.”

“Thank you,” I said, getting up prepared to leave.

“Mr. Jiles, I need you to sign these forms before you go.”

“Oh, I'm sorry.” I grabbed the pen and signed my name on the highlighted lines.

 

I was able to pay Bryant's bond with the actual check that was given to me by the bank. The clerk at the front desk said that he would be released at noon. To pass the time I figured I would go by the salon to make a few quick extra bucks until Bryant called me to let me know he was home.

“Damn, look who decided to make her appearance at Ché Mystic today,” joked Rob as I walked in the door carrying a box of donuts. “Oh, and she brought snacks,” he added.

“Shut up,” I hissed. “Today is not the day,” I said, piercing him through my shades.

“Um, excuse me.” He proceeded working on a girl's micro-braids.

“Hey, Juan, how are you, sweetie?” Ieshia asked, shampooing an elderly woman's hair.

“I'm fine, girl, how you been?” I walked straight to the back, carrying the two dozen donuts.

The shop was packed with wall-to-wall customers. Hopefully doing a few heads and laughing and joking with my staff would help take my mind off Anthony. I placed the boxes of donuts on the table next to the coffee maker.