Some Things Never Change: An African American BWBM Urban Fiction Romance (9 page)

The assailant was on
him again and had his left hand pinned to the ground. Wayne channeled
his mind so that the pain wouldn’t be the focal point. He
needed to be calm so that he would know when to use the wooden peg to
his advantage. It took a lot of concentrated effort for Wayne to use
his right hand to bring the wooden peg down on the enemies back while
he was on top of him. The distraction allowed him to roll from under
the enemy and get to his feet. Anger and pain was a heady combination
that fueled his rage. It was like a switch had flipped in his mind
and his survival instinct went up a notch.

One minute the enemy
was on him, the next minute Wayne was on him. Both were determined to
be the victor in that physical tug of war. His clothes were torn and
ripped from the tussle on the ground. Wayne’s body convulsed
from the impact of the blows, the enemy had laid it on thick. He
could barely see out of his left eye and his upper lip was busted. No
makeup could hide the damage that had been done to Wayne’s
face. He capitalized on the fact that his opponent wore dreads as a
hairstyle. He wrapped the other man’s hair around his wrist and
yanked it hard. He pulled his head backwards and made him lower his
guard. It was the wrong thing to do as this angered his opponent and
he grappled with him until his enemy had Wayne in a chokehold.

His meaty hands were
squeezing his neck and restricted Wayne’s breathing. Out of
nowhere Fat Boy rushed his opponent, saving his life. Fat Boy turned
the enemy around to face him and in the blink of an eye his fist
connected with the man’s nose. The crunching sound was very
loud and Wayne was glad it wasn’t his nose that got broken. The
guy staggered from the blows Fat Boy put on him and used his hands to
shield himself from the powerful punches Fat Boy pressured him with.
While he was doing that, Powder acted fast even though he was reeling
in shock from Sizzla’s and Crazy T’s demise. He tried to
get Wayne to stand, he put Wayne’s arm over his shoulder and
dragged him out the room.

Wayne tried not to
put too much of his own body weight on Powder’s slight frame.
He was grateful for the help, he could barely see with his eyes
swollen and the blood on his face. Once Fat Boy’s opponent was
defeated he came and helped Powder by going to Wayne’s other
side and sandwiching him. Together they half dragged half carried him
to his car where they lifted him and placed him gently on the back
seat.

Once he acknowledged
that he was alive and relatively safe, he weeped for joy. You never
realize how precious life is until you’re about to lose it. He
would live to see another day, he almost lost his life and had the
overwhelming pain to show for it but it was better than being dead.
He could now succumb to his injuries without worry.

“Please take me
to Lou’s.” That was the last thing he said before, for
the first time in his life, he fainted.

They took him to
Lou’s house. She wondered who was banging on her door at such
an early hour in the morning. So imagine her shock when she saw the
guys all covered in blood. She panicked and wanted to call an
ambulance and take Wayne to the hospital but Fat Boy and Powder
impressed upon her the need for secrecy. The police would be called
into investigate. They weren’t stupid and would find out what
they had been involved in, and possibly arrest them all. The less
people that knew the better. They assured her that he wasn’t
grievously injured and there was nothing that a little bed rest
wouldn’t cure.

She gave them the
privacy to say their goodbyes to Wayne, after they placed him in her
bed. She could see that they really cared for Wayne and wanted the
best for him. She wished them a safe travel and sincerely hoped that
they too would also turn away from a life of crime and violence.

With Sizzla and Crazy
T gone, Powder and Fat Boy had no reason to linger and were going to
catch the next bus out of town to stay with their Grandparents in
another state. They felt it was time to move on and start afresh and
begged Lou not to give up on Wayne now that he needed help for he had
never depended on a soul before. She meant the world to him and the
fact that he had asked for her over his own mother, his own flesh and
blood, proved his love to be true.

He finally opened his
eyes. She had wondered if he had fallen into a coma or had internal
bleeding she was so tempted to call an ambulance.

“How long have
I been out?”

“You been
asleep for a day, your body needed the rest. Let me take you to a
hospital now that your friends are gone.”

“No need, I
feel better already.”

“Wayne stop
being stubborn.”

“I swear I’m
alright Lou. It is not as bad as it looks.”

“You know the
Producer is gonna be mad that you set the project behind. They can’t
use make up on your face until the swelling goes down.”

“I’m sure
they’ll survive.” She detected a thread of sarcasm in his
voice and it pissed her off.

“Why must you
be so nonchalant about everything?”

“It’s not
that I don’t care Lou but I’m not in a place to change
anything about my circumstances. I hate feeling so helpless and
dependent on you.”

“You should
feel guilty. You lied to me Wayne and if you had only followed my
foolish advice all of this could have been avoided. Now I’m
going to have to lie for you and tell them that you’re very ill
and will need a week off. That should give you enough time to
recuperate and get your act together.”

“I’m
sorry Lou for lying to you but I assure you I did it for us.”

“For us?”

“Yes. I didn’t
want to leave the game empty handed, I want to make sure I could
always provide for you in the future.”

“Just say you
did it for yourself. You can be selfish when you’re ready.
Don’t think you’re gonna get off the hook so easily.”

“Lou I said I’m
sorry.” Wayne shouted.

“Don’t
you dare come here and raise your voice at me. You’re not
making this any easier and you won’t tell me what happened
after you left my house.”

“I’m not
ready to talk about it Lou but I will eventually.”

“Don’t
get me wrong, I’m grateful that you’re alive yet can’t
help but feel angry and upset that the whole time you had been lying
to me about having quit drug dealing.”

“I know Lou. I
just need some more time.”

“So that you
can get your lies straight next time around.”

“It’s not
like that and you know it.”

“I don’t
know anything! As a matter of a fact as soon as you’re feeling
better I want you out of my house, out of my life. It’s over
between us Wayne. I can’t deal with this stress, it’s
just too much man. Your blatant deception and refusal to tell me
things is the icing on this cake”

Lou didn’t even
know if he heard her break up statement because he had drifted back
to sleep under the pain reliever medication she had given him. She
felt so frustrated with him and just wanted to scream her lungs out.
Talking with him was like talking to a stubborn mule. She didn’t
know what to do, Wayne needed help and he refused to talk to her.
Maybe he would feel better talking to another male, whatever it was
he needed to get it off his chest and stop harboring his feelings.
She had called the director and broke down in loud sobs on the phone
and asked him to come over to her house and intervene with Wayne.

The director was
already coming over to drop off the latest manuscripts for them as
there was a change in script. So his meeting up with them would not
be an inconvenience on his part. Her hands were literally shaking as
she dialed Michael’s number, he was the director and like a
father figure to her. He was always friendly and gave good advice.
Her breathing slowed as she thought about how she had come so close
to losing Wayne. How could he have lied to her like this, she had
broken off relationships with men for less than this.

“Michael.”
Lou said. She tried bravely to keep her voice low to not wake Wayne
and keep the hysteria out of her voice.

“Hello Lou, is
everything okay?” Michael replied with concern in his voice.

“I’m
sorry Michael that we couldn’t make it to work today.”

“What happened?
I’ve been calling your cell phones all day with no response
it’s not like you guys to be unprofessional when you're
normally very dependable.”

“Before I go
ahead and explain can you keep what I say private?”

“Of course Lou,
I’ll keep this conversation between the two of us, you don’t
have to doubt that, I wouldn’t divulge information to Wayne or
to anyone else unless you ask me to.”

“Sorry.”
She said. “It’s just so hard for me to trust people these
days, I have to be so careful.”

“I understand.
Just take your time. After talking and letting out all your
frustrations, you’ll feel much better after. I promise you.”

Encouraged she went
on. “It concerns Wayne, when I was getting ready for work this
morning, his friends brought him over to my place. He was badly
beaten, delirious with pain and asking for me. He didn’t want
to go to a hospital and I couldn’t turn him away even though I
warned him this would happen.”

“Calm down, did
you call the police?” Michael asked.

“No, I haven’t.
Should I? I don’t want him to go to jail. His friends vouched
for him saying he’s a lover not a fighter but I feel so
confused.”

“Don’t
call the police Lou. I know Wayne, surely there is an explanation for
all this. Is he still there with you?

“Yes. He is.”

“How bad are
his injuries does he need to go to the hospital?”

“He was just
beaten badly, nothing is broken and he is bleeding. He had another
person’s blood on him this morning. He’s just tired and
has been sleeping all day, he looks frail and can barely talk much
less walk out of my house at this moment.”

“Good. I’ll
come over and talk to him. I grew up in the streets and I know what
it’s like to feel down on your luck. Just give me a chance to
talk with him. I’ll let him know that if he wants to continue
to do the show he will have to give up the drug dealing lifestyle
once and for all. It won’t be easy but I know Wayne is smart
and he’ll come around and make the right decision. My friend
runs a weekly therapy program and I’ll spare no expense to get
Wayne involved and on the road to recovery.”

“Thanks so much
Michael you’ve put my mind at ease.” She knew he was
right. Both director and friend, Michael never got flustered under
stress and was always practical.

“Not a problem.
I should be by your neighborhood within an hour’s time. I've
got some other things I have to wrap up. I’ll give you guys two
weeks off, you’ll both need some time to get over the craziness
of this morning. I’ll bring extra medication for him as well,
wouldn’t want him to miss too much work now.”

Wayne felt riled that
Lou was talking about him like he wasn’t there once he calmed
himself, he could see Lou was overwhelmed and only trying to help. He
had pretended to be asleep when she called the director in tears to
tell him all that had transpired. Wayne was flabbergasted, he had
never had anyone worry or care about him so much before. He didn’t
know how to react. Lou’s feelings weren’t something he
could ignore in hopes that it would go away. He didn’t want
that to happen, he wanted to bask in the afterglow of her love. He
hadn’t shared with her what happened that fateful night so as
far as she was concerned he was still dealing drugs. He hadn’t
bothered to correct her impression either. He was a drug dealer, she
needed to accept that for the most part and not be deluded that he
was an angel.

She heard when
Michael pulled up on the drive way, her cell rang not too long after.
She went to open the door and let him in. Michael came up to her and
pulled her into a brotherly bear hug. When they met they had liked
each other immediately Michael had that warm and friendly personality
that made people gravitate towards him. He vaguely reminded her of
the Pillsbury dough boy he was short, pudgy around the middle yet
full of vigor and vitality.

“Michael I’m
so glad to see you.”

“Same here. Is
he awake?”

“Yes he is. He
wasn’t amused when I told him you were coming. I think he
doesn’t want you to be disappointed with him. I know he
respects you.”

Michael followed Lou
into the bedroom. Wayne was sitting up in bed. He had on one of Lou’s
robes and was tucked in snugly between the sheets. Michael got
straight to the matter at heart.

“Listen up
guys, you are both consenting adults I can’t tell you how to
run your personal lives but if you want to keep your jobs you both
need to put you differences aside because personal feelings like
anger and regret can really impact your acting in a negative way.”

He was greeted with
silence at his declaration. “Lou, can you excuse us for few
minutes please?”

“Oh okay, I’ll
just go down to the supermarket and get some groceries.”

“Take the car
Lou, my keys should be in my pants pocket. That’s where Fat Boy
said he left them.”

“He did. I took
them out when I did the laundry. Thanks Wayne. I’ll be right
back guys.”

“We’ll
try not to tear the place down while you’re gone.” Said
Michael.

Wayne chuckled
beside him. Lou’s heart melted at the sight, then she
remembered what he did and got angry again. She closed the door
behind her before either man could see her reaction. Lou didn’t
bother to take the car, a walk was just what she needed to clear her
head.

When she came back,
it was to an empty apartment. Taped on her mirror was a note from
Wayne, he felt that he was being a burden to her and took up
Michael's offer for rehabilitation. He didn’t want them to end
on a bitter note or deprive her from going to work if she had to take
care of him. She need not worry about him and in two weeks’
time she would see him back at work. It was signed with Wayne’s
flurry signature. Lou just held the note and cried, she deeply
regretted her earlier outburst and wished things hadn’t ended
the way it had.