Life After a Balla (8 page)

When it went straight to voicemail, she called back three more times, then decided to leave a message when she heard the beep.

“Cruze, where the hell are you? Why didn’t you come home last night? Call me back,” Skye said, hanging up.

Feeling pissed and worried all at the same time, Skye jumped up and grabbed Payton out of her crib when she started crying. “Good morning, little girl. Are you hungry?” Skye said, kissing her daughter on her cheek. “Let’s go in the kitchen and get you some juice, then I’ll fix you something to eat.”

Skye wondered why Jordan hadn’t come into her room and got Payton like he did every morning as part of his regular ritual. She was so thankful for her son, who was beyond helpful. When she passed his room a few moments later, her question was answered after seeing him sound asleep with his mouth wide open.

All those late football practices are wearing my poor son out,
she thought

Skye then glanced across the hall into Kareem’s room and immediately noticed his bed was still made up, which meant he hadn’t come home either. She was pissed off even more that he hadn’t called to let her know where he was.

“I know that bitch, Le Le, probably influenced him to stay out.”

When Skye got closer to the living room and saw a body on the couch with a blanket draped over their head, she breathed a sigh of relief that Cruze had come home after all. He was known for falling asleep after watching movies late at night. Before she could wake him up, Payton started crying again, this time having a full tantrum by kicking her feet and moving her head from side to side.

“Okay little girl, calm down,” Skye reacted.

After putting some apple juice in one of Payton’s bottles she headed back into the living room to wake Cruze up and drill him about what time he’d come in. However, when she got to the couch and pulled the blanket back, Skye was shocked to see that it was Kareem laying there…not Cruze.

“What are you doing out here or should I ask what time did you come home?” Skye asked with an attitude. She then frowned up her nose. “You smell just like sex. I know you didn’t come in here and lay your nasty ass on my couch!” she yelled.

A sleepy and dazed Kareem looked up and wondered why his mother was bothering him so early in the morning.

“Ma, please don’t start with me again. I’m tired,” he said, turning over.

Skye decided to leave him alone for now since her main concern was Cruze, but the shit definitely wasn’t over. She headed back to her room to get her cell phone and call him once again. As soon as she laid Payton back down in her crib, Skye wondered what type of lie he would come up with for staying out this time. Was it really work related or was he going to try and pull the same stunt he did the month before saying that he’d gotten drunk with the boys and fell asleep in the car?

I forgave his ass that time, but I’m not gonna keep falling for that shit
, Skye thought.

After calling Cruze’s phone at least five times and it continuously going straight to voicemail, Skye’s head started to spin as she took her fist and pounded it repeatedly on her bed.

She then decided to text him as if that would make a difference.

Cruze, where are you? You need to call me A.S.A.P, WTF?
Skye typed, and then hit send.

Why would he take me through this if he knows Sandino used to do the same shit
?

Her blood began to boil, as each minute passed and Cruze never text back. After waiting for almost twenty minutes, Skye decided to go to his job and see if he was there or even worked the night before. She glanced over at Payton who’d fallen back asleep. She then walked back into the livingroom and woke Kareem up once again.

“I need you to listen out for Payton. Cruze didn’t come home last night and I need to go look for him. I’m worried.”

Kareem smirked, “There you go running behind another man. Where are you going to look for him at, the strip club? Tell Jordan to watch her, I told you I was tired,” he said, with a smart tone. When he attempted to turn back over, she yanked his shoulder.

“Kareem, I’m tired of you disrespecting me. If you think you’re gonna just come and go as you please and not do shit around here, you better think again! I’m sick of your selfish, lazy ass!”

Skye knew Jordan had been going hard for the past few weeks in football practice and didn’t want to wake him. But Kareem on the other hand never did anything to help her out and she was beyond sick of him not pulling his weight.

“Get the fuck off my couch! You bitched and complained about having your own room this time, so go get in your own bed!” Skye continued to roar.

Kareem sucked his teeth and jumped up snatching the covers. “You don’t say shit when Cruze be sleeping on the couch,” he replied, stomping toward his room and slamming the door.

Once again deciding to let Jordan rest, Skye chose to take Payton with her to Cruze’s job. As her heart paced, she prayed he was there as she quickly got dressed and grabbed Payton out of the crib still in her pajamas and left the house.

Skye made the fifty-six minute drive to College Park in less than thirty. She was so anxious to get where she was going, the police pulling her over for speeding was the last thing on her mind. While driving, she glanced at all of the people out walking the streets and began to think about her problems. She had so many thoughts in her head about whether she should go back to Miami. She also didn’t like the strained relationship between her and Kareem. Skye had let him get away with so much because of what he’d experienced the night Sandino was shot, but she was beginning to think he was using it as an excuse to be a loser and not do anything with his life. And that wasn’t going down. All her kids were going to be successful if she had something to do with it. She also didn’t know what was up with Cruze lately. All Skye knew was that she wasn’t about to put up with any more bullshit from another man. Years of putting up with Sandino’s lies and abuse were never going to be repeated.

When Skye finally saw the sign that said, Sal’s Used Cars she quickly turned into the parking lot and immediately noticed that Cruze’s car wasn’t there. She parked and grabbed Payton out the back of her black 2003 Nissan Maxima that Cruze bought when her Honda finally broke down. She remembered how proud Cruze was when he gave her the keys. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings so Skye acted as if she liked it.

I should’ve been more appreciative because without him I wouldn’t be driving shit right now
, she thought.

Skye looked around and wanted to laugh at some of the old cars the dealership was attempting to sale. A gold 2007 Infiniti G35 was the nicest thing on the lot. She wondered if the cars were the new inventory Cruze had mentioned the day before. Skye couldn’t even picture Cruze working there, but he constantly told her how cool the owners of the mom and pop dealership were and how they didn’t judge him or the fact that he had a felony.

Skye walked towards the sign on a raggedy trailer that said office and went inside. The office was shabby, junky and smelled like moth balls. After seeing her reflection in a dusty mirror, she tried to finger comb her hair that was all over the place as an older man drinking a cup of coffee immediately walked over with a huge smile.

“I got the perfect car for you out back. It just came in yesterday and has your name written all over it. It’s a 2006 Honda Odyssey,” he said

“I’m not here to buy a car even though my boyfriend who works here told me about the new shipment of cars coming in. Is he here?” Skye asked.

“Who is your boyfriend? I know you’re not talking about my crazy ass nephew. You’re too pretty for Lamont.”

Skye shook her head. “No, I’m talking about Dezmond. Dezmond Cruze.”

The salesman looked at her crazy. “Who? Nobody by that name works here,” he informed, taking another sip of coffee.

Skye stood there for a minute. “Are you sure Dezmond Cruze doesn’t work here?” Skye looked around as if she expected Cruze to walk out of one of the offices in the back.

“Miss, I own this place, and I’ve been here every day for the past twenty years. I would know if somebody by that name ever worked here. I’ve had a lot of guys run through here, but ain’t nobody ever worked here by that name.” He took another sip of coffee. “Now, do you wanna take a look at that Honda? It’s a beauty. Only got 78,000 miles on it.”

“No, thanks,” Skye said, walking out.

Skye left puzzled. Cruze had been claiming to go to this job every day for the past seven months and it was obviously all a lie. She could feel her temperature rising as she thought,
not again, I trusted this muthafucka
!

After opening the back door and putting Payton in her car seat, Skye hopped in the driver’s side. She banged her fist on the sterling wheel with all types of thoughts going through her mind.

“My gut feeling told me something wasn’t right. I bet that muthafucka is cheating on me!” she yelled. Skye started the car and pulled out the parking lot like it was NASCAR Season at the Daytona 500.

While driving, Skye started hyperventilating and having a panic attack. She reached over in her purse in the passenger seat while trying to keep her eye on road and pulled out her pills. When she twisted the top off, the pill bottle fell on the floor.

“Shit!” Skye said, while trying to reach down and grab them.

It seemed as if she’d only taken her eyes off the road for a second. By the time Skye looked back up, she could see two rear lights only inches away from her car. Going way too fast to stop, Skye let out a piercing scream as she hit the break, but still managed to collide into the back of another car.

CHAPTER 8

Skye was completely delusional as she laid in the emergency room badly bruised and cut. With everything a blur, she looked down at her clothing that was covered in blood and became hysterical.

“Where’s my daughter?” Skye screamed.

When the petite Asian triage nurse working on her wounds grabbed on her arm, Skye started swinging back and forth.

“Ma’am, please calm down. I need to finish sterilizing the cut over your eye,” the nurse stated. “Your daughter is with a doctor in another treatment area. From what the paramedics said you’re both lucky to be alive. Your vehicle was completely destroyed.”

Desperate to see her baby girl, Skye immediately jumped up off the hospital gurney and ran through the emergency room snatching each curtain back. She wiped the dripping blood from her forehead as she continued to look for Payton.

“I need to see my daughter!” she yelled.

“Miss, you can’t disrupt the other patients like this. Come back and lay down, you need stitches. That cut is very deep and you’re losing a lot of blood,” the nurse said, running behind her.

Ignoring the Asian woman, Skye kept looking through various areas invading other patient’s privacy in the ER until she finally found Payton. When she saw her precious baby laying on a gurney with her right leg wrapped in a splint and blood on her Dora the Explorer pajamas, she completely lost it. Skye ran to her bedside.

“Oh my God. Payton…Payton!” Skye belted. Flashbacks of the accident continued to flood her thoughts. “Is she okay?” Skye said, kissing her forehead.

When Payton started crying uncontrollably, Skye was even more devastated. Suddenly the doctor treating Payton walked around the bed and introduced himself.

“Hello, my name is Dr. Matthews. I’m one of the pediatric orthopedic surgeons here at Southern Regional Medical Center,” he said, extending his hand. “I’m sorry, I haven’t gotten your name yet.”

Skye did a quick handshake. “Skye Washington. Is my baby going to be okay?”

“Can I speak with you for a second Ms. Washington?”

“Why…what’s wrong?” Skye questioned with a concerned expression.

“I just need to speak to you for a second. Don’t worry,” the doctor tried to convince.

“I’m not leaving my daughter. Can’t you see how upset she is?” Skye said.

The doctor reached over and pressed the button for a nurse. When she walked in a few seconds later, the doctor told her to stay with Payton for a few minutes so he could speak with Skye. When the nurse was able to quiet Payton down, Skye agreed to go.

“Mommy will be right back, baby,” Skye informed. She knew something was wrong with her daughter when she didn’t throw a temper tantrum like she did most of the time whenever Skye left her.

Skye followed the doctor into a private area not far from the emergency room and quickly took a seat, anxious to find out what was wrong.

“Ms. Washington, your daughter’s right leg has what is called a Growth Plate Fracture,” the doctor said, getting straight to the point.

Skye’s eyes instantly welled up with tears. “A Growth Fracture? What’s that?”

“The Growth Plate is the softer part of your daughter’s bones where growth occurs, and it’s generally the weakest part, which is why it’s so easy to obtain a fracture. It’s a very common injury for kids during a car collision. Most likely, your daughter’s car seat wasn’t properly secure and that caused her to be thrown around in the car, shattering her leg.”

As the doctor continued to speak, tears continued to stream down Skye’s face. She immediately felt guilty.

“We’re waiting for the X-Rays to come back, but I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve seen this type of injury many times before. Unfortunately, surgery has to be done to put the bone back into the correct position. If the surgery isn’t done, the injured bone can possibly become deformed. That unfortunately can cause her leg to become shorter than the other.”

At that moment, Skye became frantic. “Oh my God. I can’t believe this is happening. My poor baby. A fracture basically means it’s broken right?”

The doctor patted her on the shoulder. “Yes, that’s correct, but don’t worry Ms. Washington, everything will be fine. This type of fracture can be corrected. Plus, things could’ve been a lot worse.”