URBAN: In Love with A Boss Nigga (19 page)

That was the final straw. Giselle stood up and looked Ms. Rita in the eye. There was an anger coming from her that she’s never felt before. She knew she’d been holding back her feelings ever since she found out about the death, but looking at Ms. Rita, she was shaking. She was so angry that her body was actually trembling.

“You little fucking bitch.” The words came from Giselle’s mouth, but even she couldn’t believe it. “If I ever hear you say anything negative about me or anybody else in this apartment-”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No, I’m informing you. I’m sick and tired of your shit. Next time anything happens, I’m going to ACS, the police, anybody that will listen to me about all the bullshit you do. We come home to an empty fridge, constantly having to clean the house, and you’re fucking high all the time. From now on, Laura and I are running this place. We are cashing the checks, buying the food, and if you’re nice we’ll give you a nice allowance.”

The room was silent after that. Laura sat up on the bed and hugged her legs. She closed her eyes and rocked back and forth. She was waiting for the huge fight. She’s tried to stand up to Ms. Rita before but after getting beaten up, she decided to just keep her head down.

‘Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” Ms. Rita balled up her fist.

“I’m talking to a crackhead that’s dependent on money that I help bring in.” Giselle laughed. Ms. Rita went to punch her, but she moved out of the way. She turned around and slapped her. When her hand connected with Ms. Rita’s face, she couldn’t believe it. Ms. Rita doubled back and charged at her, but she just moved out of the way again.

“You touch me and I’m going to make sure that they do mandatory drug testing on you.” Those words from Laura stopped them both. “Go sleep it off Ms. Rita.” She demanded.

“You bitches-”

“Go sleep it off!” Laura shouted..

Ms. Rita looked at the both of them. She could easily have fought them both, but the look in each lady’s eyes told her that they were serious. She didn’t want to lose the kids because she knew that her money would be gone. She just puffed her chest out and went back to the bedroom. She crashed on her bed and quickly fell to sleep.

“Are you okay?” Laura turned to Giselle.

“Do you know what you just signed up for? She’s going to go after you.”

“Not today.” Laura shrugged. “You can’t think about that though. You concentrate on going to the funeral and you let me worry about her.”

Giselle wore the same funeral outfit that she did at her parent’s funeral. She looked at herself long in the mirror, before leaving the apartment. When she walked down the hall, she passed Lionel’s door. She stood in front of it and touched it. How quickly things have changed. She felt the tears coming on but she ignored them. She just pushed through. She made it outside and hailed a cab. She told the cab driver to take her to the funeral home. She sighed and for the first time in a long time, she fell asleep.

“Miss?” The cab driver turned to his sleeping passenger. “Miss!” He raised his voice. Giselle started to wake up. She saw everybody wearing black. She didn’t even have to ask if they were there. The somber feeling in the air, people crying in the background, and the procession starting, told it all. She missed the funeral but she would be in time for the burial. That’s the important part. That’s what she really came there for.

“You want me to drop you off? Or would you like me to follow them? It will be free of charge. I can see that you’re in a bad situation.”

“Thank you.” She nodded. “Just follow them.” She gave him her best smile but even he saw that it was fake. He focused on the road and she just looked out the window. The streets were buzzing. She wondered how many people were feeling what she was feeling. There were so many stories out there and she tried to see if she could see hers. Could someone else out there be feeling the type of despair that she was? She tried to see if she could spot the sad faces. It wasn’t until she pulled up to the burial that she saw them.

“This is it.” The driver slowly turned to Giselle. “Family or friend?” He asked and she looked at him.

“I don’t even know. I can’t say that I knew him all that well.” She mumbled. “I just thought that I should come here.”

“And why is that?”

“Why do you care?”

“Why shouldn’t I care?”

“Because that’s none of your business.”

The cab driver chuckled. He’s heard that too many times before. He couldn’t help to care. She was dressed in all black and looked like she could use a friend or at least someone to talk to.

“Today, let’s pretend that it’s my business to care.” He gave her a warm smile. He started to remind her of her father.

“I wanted to come here to see.”

“See what?”

“To see if he was really dead. I guess I have been in denial in such a long time. I just needed to see it.” She pressed her face against the window.

“Aren’t you going to go inside?”

“I don’t think I can move.”

“I’ll go with you.”

The cab driver found a parking spot. Giselle took a deep breath. The driver got out of the car and approached her door. He opened the door and held out his hand. In his eyes, she saw the same kindness of her father.

“Are you ready?”

“I don’t think I can do it.”

“You are not doing it alone.” He reminded her with a toothy grin. “I’m here.” He took her hand. “Whenever you’re ready, we’ll go right over there.”

“I can’t go over there.” Her voice was shaking and she was getting weak. Her knees were not staying still and she knew that she would turn into jelly if she stood up.

“Then we just stand here and whenever you’re ready, we’ll go over there.”

They leaned against the car and looked across the street at the cemetery. The people were walking decked out in black. She started to move but she stopped and leaned back on the car.

“There goes the mother.” He pointed at a woman sobbing and being held by two others.

“How did you know that?” Giselle recognized her.

“You can just tell. When my mother died, that was me. I couldn’t even move.” He confessed.

“How did she die?”

“Cancer.”

“My parents died, but I was numb.” She exhaled. “When death comes around, all I do is get numb. I should have never came here.”

“You came to pay your respects.”

“But I barely knew him.” She opened the car door. “I just had-”

“You don’t have to explain anything. You are just trying to do your best and that’s okay. You don’t have to do it by anybody’s rules but your own.”

“I thought I could do it.”

“You’re allowed to change your mind. “

She smiled at him. She was feeling better. Despite everything, she started to come around. She couldn’t feel bad anymore. Ever since hearing of this death, she’s been in a horrible mood. It was understandable, but now she was at the point where she really hated feeling helpless. Everywhere she turned, things just happened to her. Her parents died, she was getting abused by her foster mother, and now this. She had to turn her life around. She had to make the moves, or else her life would just get out of control like it is now.

“Look there are police.” The cab driver pointed out. “What are the cops doing here?” Giselle saw the officers stand outside of the cemetery. “Oh my God, this is the funeral of that shooting.” He looked to Giselle. “Did you hear about it? It was all over the news. Someone came and shot him. They shot and killed him. Did you know the victim? Were you friends with him?”

“Not really.” Giselle started to open the car door. “This was just something I had to do.”

“You want to go back to where I found you?”

“No, I need you to bring me someplace else.”

The cab pulled up in front of a motel. The cab driver leaned in and looked at it and then to Giselle. He would have never pictured a beautiful young lady going into a seedy motel.

“I know I’ve been in your business all day, but I have a question for you. What are you doing here?” She opened her mouth to tell him, but decided against it. She wasn’t sure what she was doing there either.

“Doing a favor for a friend.” She smiled.

“You want me to wait for you. I feel uncomfortable letting you go up there by yourself.”

“I’m a big girl. I need to learn to fight my own battles.” She gave him $100. “I know you said that it was free, but here. Thank you for all that you’ve done. I needed it more than you’ll ever know.” She exited the car and made her way into the motel.

Once inside the motel she could see why the cab driver didn’t want her to go inside. The walls were covered in horrible decor. There was a smell that she couldn’t identify. She saw young ladies dressed in sexy outfits. They were practically in bikinis and heels. They had on tacky makeup and on top of the weird smell, their perfume scent was just as strong.

“Hi, may you please show me where the front desk is?” She politely asked them. They all pointed to this old, worn out, check in desk. She rang the bell and could have swore that she saw dust come out. She coughed and fanned away the dust from her face.

“What?” The person behind the desk sighed.

“I’m looking for a guest.” She whispered.

“Speak up.” The person sighed.

“I’m looking for a guest.” She replied confidently.

“Room 202.”

“I didn’t even tell you who it was.”

“I’ve been told to look out for you.”

Giselle walked through the musty halls and pressed the button for the elevator. She listened to the low hum and looked down at the faded carpet that was beneath her. She saw a roach scurry across one of the walls and she shuddered. She wanted to run out and bail, but she had a promise to keep.

Knocking on door 202, she rolled her eyes. She should have brought hand sanitizer. She listened for footsteps and suddenly the door opened. Lionel stood on the other side. He took a deep breath and then let her in. He gestured for her to sit down but she shook her head.

“Now, can you tell me what happened?”

Lionel hesitated. Seeing her now made him all the more nervous. He’d been hiding out in this ratty motel for a while. He sat on the edge of the bed while she stood over him with his arms crossed. She tapped her foot impatiently.

“What happened?” She asked. “Tell me what happened that night.”

It was the night that Lionel stormed out the luxury hotel, leaving behind Giselle after their night of passion. He didn’t want to leave but he was blinded by the feeling of revenge that was taking over him. The image of his best friend in a hospital bed was consuming him. It fueled him in a fury so much that it drove him to purchase a gun and go to the club looking for the people responsible.

“Excuse me.” Lionel walked in the club. He knocked on the counter and a man came out.

“How can I help you?” The man asked.

“I’m looking for someone that works here.”

“Sure. Are you looking for a DJ? Are you looking for a bartender? Who are you looking for specifically?”

“Those bottle service girls. I’m looking for one with big natural hair.” Lionel remembered Antwon’s description.

“Yes, I know who you’re talking about.” The man smiled but then he squinted. “What do you need her for?”

“I just want to talk to her.”

“A lot of men come here looking to talk to the bottle service girls or bartenders.” He sighed and started to move away.

“I just need to talk to her.”

“Listen man, if she didn’t give you her phone number, that means that she didn’t want to. Don’t take it hard. It’s almost part of their job to flirt with you.”

“Can I just get her name?”

“I’m sorry, no.”

“Well what time is she coming in?”

“I can’t tell you that either.”

Lionel huffed. He left the club and waited across the street outside. He thought if he just waited a little bit, that he would see her come in. He sat in the laundromat and looked out of the window. He saw some people go in and out of the club, but he didn’t spot the woman yet. He was just about to walk away when he saw a green four door car pull up to the club. The passenger door opened and she stepped out. He leaned and squinted. If only he could see who drove her, he’d probably be one step closer to the person that tried to kill his friend, but the car pulled away before he could get a good look.

He got out the laundromat and walked to the club. He watched her walk in and tried to walk in behind her, but when he saw four men rush into the club he stepped back into the laundromat. He then heard gunshots and screams. He rushed out and went towards the club. He saw one of the four men point a gun at the man he was talking to before and pulled the trigger. One of the other men started walking out with big garbage bags and ran around the corner. When he got around the corner, he threw the bags into the same green car earlier.

“Oh shit.” Lionel mumbled to himself. He noticed what was going on. The club was being robbed. He stepped back, hid behind a car, and kept watching. Two of the men came out and once again he saw the female from before.

“What the fuck!” She screamed. “Take me back to the strip club. I need to be there in fifteen minutes.” She shouted and they all got in the car and drove off. Minutes later sirens were heard and police were everywhere. He watched the cops tape off the scene, speak to witnesses, and let the EMTs do their work. When he saw the body bags come out, that’s when he left.

Lionel was roaming the streets of Brooklyn. He didn’t think about where he wanted to go. He was just still shocked about what he saw. He didn’t know what to do or what was happening. He looked up and noticed he was at the hospital where Antwon was. He went inside and signed the visitor form. The hospital staff moved Antwon. He wasn’t in a private room anymore, but he didn’t have another patient sharing the room with him, so he was still alone.

“Hey, what’s up?” Antwon's face lit up when he saw his friend. “I’m guessing you’re here to tell me how it went with Giselle.” He gave his friend a knowing look. “I know we boys, but there’s some stories that I just can’t hear.” He laughed. “Nah, nigga, I’m lying. I couldn’t even keep a straight face. So what’s up? She freaky? She suck the dick like a pro?”