Raunchy (32 page)

“Don’t lie, Felicia! Tell the fucking truth!” Her cousin Diamond Koone yelled in the courtroom. “You know damn well this bitch was not with you!”

The judge banged her gavel and said, “Order in court! Order in court!” When Diamond was silent she said, “Now, Ms. Koone, I don’t know how you handle things where you live, but in my courtroom you will maintain your composure.” She demanded. “One more outburst like that and you will be in contempt of court and I will throw this case and you out immediately! Do I make myself clear?”

Diamond rolled her eyes and said, “Yes, your honor judge.”

I was laughing like shit inside. I was going to get away with all of this shit and it was nothing that bitch could do about it.”

“Now, Ms. Koone, is it your sworn testimony that Harmony Phillips was with you the entire night Diamond Koone’s apartment was broken into?”

“Yes. She was with me and we were playing Bingo. So she could not have broken into her apartment. My cousin was mistaken.”

The judge looked at Felicia suspiciously but things were out of her hands, I had an alibi. The judge ruled in my favor and me and Felicia was on our way out the door when Diamond came behind me and pushed me.

I fell face first into the cold dirty floor and turned around. I jumped up as fast as I could and we started fighting in the court building. I was flailing wild punches at her until a cop snatched me up, while another snatched her up and pulled her someplace else.

I was still fussing at her until I saw a familiar face staring at me. She’d aged a bit but it was still her all the same. It was my aunt Angela. If she was there, that meant it wasn’t long before someone from my past found me. It could be Jace or it could be Kali. All I could think of was that I didn’t want to die.

Twin Problems

Madjesty and Jayden Phillips

Madjesty was in the back of the class looking at the cute little girl in the desk directly in front of him. The blue jeans he wore were ragged and the white T-shirt he had on was not too clean. Still there was a swagger about Madjesty that girls were automatically attracted to.

“
Rocket.” Madjesty whispered. Rocket was a cute girl whose boyfriend, Baisley, was on the football team. Even though Madjesty knew how deep Baisley and his crew was, it didn’t stop him from hitting on his girlfriend. “Turn around, I gotta ask you something.” He smiled.

“
Boy, shut up!” Jayden who was also in the class with him said. “You loud as shit.”

“
Man, you shut up.” Madjesty combated. “I wasn’t even talking to you.”

“
But the girl don’t want to be bothered.”

Madjesty wasn’t paying his brother any mind. “Rocket, let me get your number?”

“
For what?” She flirted back. “You know I got a boyfriend.”

“
That ain’t got shit to do with me. I’m trying to get to know you and I know you wanna get to know me, too.”

Finally Rocket turned around and said, “You messing with me and I can’t hear the teacher,” she smiled. There was no denying that she really did like him. “You gonna get me in…”

“
Madjesty Phillips, come up here right now and answer the question on this board. Since you want to interrupt my class with side conversations.”

“
What? I don’t even know what the problem is about.” Madjesty said pulling his cap down further on his head to hide his eyes. Madjesty always wore a cap and it acted as his safety mechanism against other people. Under his cap he felt no one could see how much he hated his himself inside.

“
Exactly. Now since you want to disrupt my class, come up here and do it in the front of everyone.”

Madjesty was so embarrassed but he reluctantly got out of his seat. On his way to the board, Rocket placed a piece of paper in his hand. He didn’t look at it right away because he didn’t want the teacher taking it from him.

Reluctantly he approached the board because school scared him in general. Like his brother, he could barely read. Harmony never bothered to teach them anything by way of education. Once at the blackboard, Madjesty stared at the math question confused. He didn’t know where to start because it all looked foreign to him.

“
Go ahead…Answer the question.” The teacher persisted.

“
I’m not sure how to answer it,” he said looking at Rocket, who was trying to look away. She was embarrassed for him.

“
Well you not being sure how to answer the problem, is not good enough for me. You interrupted my class and now I want you to answer this problem. And my pupils do, too.” She said looking out amongst them. “Don’t you class?”

They all agreed.
It was settled,
Madjesty was going to have to do an awful job of attempting to answer the problem until the teacher said, “Madjesty, are you okay? I mean…Did you cut yourself?”

“
No. Why?” He turned around and looked at her suspiciously.

“
Because you’re bleeding. Go to the nurse’s office right now!”

Madjesty tried to look at himself but he couldn’t. The blood was in an awkward position.

“
I’m going with him,” Jayden said right alongside his brother.

The teacher knew better than to come in between the closeness of their bond so she allowed them both to leave.

Nurses Office

The nurse’s office was cold and open. And Madjesty and Jayden sat as quietly as possible waiting on the verdict. When Madjesty first came into her office, the nurse’s mouth dropped when she saw the amount of blood on Madjesty’s clothing. Since she was not authorized to conduct a full examination, she immediately called the paramedics.

“
Are you okay, son?” the nurse asked. “Are you in any pain?”

“
No, I just don’t know what’s going on.” He said holding his brother’s hand.

“
Me either, son. But we’re going to find out right away,” she said examining Madjesty carefully with a once over.

When the paramedics arrived, they took off his clothing and briefly looked over his file. A call was placed to his mother that went unanswered. They didn’t realize that Harmony was locked up at court earlier that day and was unable to answer the phone.

Unable to wait on Harmony any longer, after some time Madjesty and Jayden were placed in the back of the ambulance and rushed to the hospital. After an examination, there were four or five doctors in the room who didn’t understand the information the school nurse had on Madjesty Phillips’, chart versus what they saw. Physically they saw one thing but clerically the chart said another.

After going with his professional assumption, the doctor decided to address Madjesty.

“
Madjesty, I have good news,” the doctor said in a concerned tone. “You are fine and there’s nothing for you to worry about. But…But…I’m a little confused on what the nurse has on your health record as your sex.”

“
My sex? I’m not having none.”

“
I know. But…She has on your records that you are a…Well…Boy.”

“
I am,” he laughed looking at his brother who hadn’t cracked a smile.

“
Have you ever seen the anatomy of a woman? In school?”

“
The anatomy of a woman?” Jayden interjected. “What that mean?”

The doctor looked at the nurse in the room who put her head down. It was unbearable for her because she already knew what had happened. For whatever reason, someone had told these children that they were something that they weren’t. She could tell with one look at Madjesty’s low-cut hairstyle and her baggy clothing that the child believed in all her heart that she was a boy, when she was far from it.

“
Anatomy means the bodily structure. In other words, a man’s body is different from a woman’s.”

“
Okay.”

The doctor knew it was best to just come out with it. “Son…I mean, Madjesty, you are a not a boy. In fact, you are a girl.”

“
What?! No I’m not a girl!” she sat up straight on the bed. “Don’t tell me that because it’s not true! I want my mother! Where is my mother?!”

“
Madjesty, you had your menstruation cycle today. That is why you had so much blood on your clothing. You are a girl.”

“
That can’t be true! Because that would mean, I am too,” Jayden said.

Unlike her sister she was secretly happy to hear the news. She always felt like something was off about her. Despite the short haircuts her mother made her get when she was young and the boy clothes she made them wear.

“
I’ll have my doctors examine you as well, but if you have the same anatomy as your sister, than you probably are also a girl.”

Upon hearing the news Madjesty felt dizzy. Unlike Jayden she liked who she was or thought she was. She could never see being a girl and having to face people at the school. She hated the idea of her life changing in this way and wondered why their mother would have lied to them so viciously. Madjesty vowed then that no matter what, if it was in her power, that she’d make her mother pay.

Good News & Bad News

Harmony

There were hundreds of people walking around in the courtroom and I wondered which one of them had bailed me out. I didn’t have any friends with money and even if I did, not one of them would waste it on me.

I had been in jail for two days and hated every minute of it. Bitches were on their periods and smelled like old fish and every time I woke up I had to smell someone else’s shit. I didn’t know how long I would have to be in there and couldn’t get in contact with anyone to warn the kids to stay in the house.

I hoped my kids didn’t get to begging for food and bringing attention to themselves. If that happened they could jeopardize my welfare checks if someone knew they were in the house alone.

I was outside of the jailhouse for five minutes, when I saw my aunt Angela sitting in a red Honda Civic at the curb staring at me. I was going to walk right past her, like I didn’t see her until she said, “Harmony, I know you see me over here.” I kept walking. “Can you please stop, I have something to tell you.”

I kept walking until she said, “I was the one who bailed you out, and the least you could do is give me five minutes of your time.” She continued. “I’ll even drive you to wherever you’re going.”

“I don’t trust you, Angela.” I said looking at her. “I can’t help but wonder if you were the reason Monkey got killed. And how I know you not here to set me up? I know you the one who told Kali where I was.”

“I’m not here to set you up.” She leaned over and opened the car door. “Now come on and get in, Harmony. You are going to love what I have to tell you.”

Against my better judgment, I got in her car. She kept looking at me and I could tell she was judging me already. My once long thick black hair was now scraggly, brittle and brown. I had lost so much weight that I knew she thought I was a crack head. And a slash in the form of a criss-cross rested on my face. Not only that, my skin was now cracked and dry and not flawless and youthful like it was when she last saw me. The streets were hard on me and life had taken its toll.

I told my lie for so long that I forgot who knew the truth. My lie lasted a while until Renee came over the house threatening to out me. When my kids were over her house that day, she walked into the bathroom while Madjesty was using it. When she saw her sitting down and her split tail showing, she tried to blackmail me. I don’t even know why I really lied about their sex. It started as a way to escape from Kali if he was trying to find me. I knew he’d be looking for me with two little girls, when I had two little boys.

“Oh, I meant, little girls.” I said angrily. “But stop beating around the bush and get to the point, Angela. What in the fuck do you want?”

“Okay, Harmony, there’s no reason to get upset about it. I’m just asking because I haven’t seen you in forever. And you are my niece.” She paused. “So, where do you want to go?”

“I live in Plum Creek Apartments.” I looked her over and then back out in front of me. “You can take me there.”

“I didn’t know you lived that close to me.”

“Well how would you?” I paused. I was tired of the games and wanted her to get down to it. “Now, what’s going on, Angela? I’m tired of being fake. Talk to me.”

She sighed and said, “People have been looking for you for a while, Harmony.” I looked at her. “But nobody has been able to locate you until now.”

“What people?” I asked with raised brows. “Kali?”