Array Ashley - Tale of the Murda Mamas

Ma’tee played the grieving father well. He acted as if he was so choked up that he couldn’t respond.

“Me will do all me can,” the doctor said before taking Breeze and disappearing behind two double doors.

Ma’tee paced back and forth in the waiting area for two hours. He kept watching the clock, each minute taunting him and threatening to expose him. Finally, the doctor emerged through the double doors.

“How is she?” Ma’tee asked.

“She will be fine, with medicine and rest,” the doctor replied.

“Can me see her?” he asked.

The doctor shook her head. “Not right now. She is still asleep. We have her in a sterile recovery room. Me cannot allow chu back there and risk infection. When she awakens, me will come get chu.”

Ma’tee sat down impatiently, his leg bouncing in anticipation as he watched the doctor disappear into the back once more.

Breeze’s eyes were so heavy that she could barely open them. Flashes of white light sneaked through her closed lids as she slowly came out of the anesthesia. Her head was groggy, and she could barely remember where she was, but when she closed her eyes, it all came rushing back to her like a bad dream: The jungle; the spider bite; the doctor. Every detail was fuzzy, but it was all slowly coming back to her. I’m at the doctor’s office. I have to get out of here before Ma’tee comes for me, she thought. It took all of her might to roll onto her side. Her neck felt as if she were a newborn baby. She couldn’t support her head and her vision was blurry. Get up! she urged herself. Get up! There was an IV in her arm. She snatched at it. She was so weak that she could barely get the needle out of her arm. Forcing herself to sit up, she stood on wobbly legs which caused excruciating pain to shoot up the right side of her body. She shook her head from side to side trying to clear her vision, and saw that she had an incision that ran down the length of her leg, and that her foot was bandaged. The anesthetic hadn’t completely worn, off and it was hard for her to stay focused. Her limbs were so lazy, every move she made exhausted her, but she fought the urge to lie back down.

The ringing of a phone snapped her to attention. I have to get to that phone, she thought. Breeze was in a state of emergency. This was her only shot to reach out to her family. She knew that if she didn’t make it to that phone, she could kiss everything she ever knew goodbye.

She forced herself to stand on her injured foot. She wanted to scream at the pain that she felt when she was fully standing, but instead, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths until the blinding ache died down and she was able to move. The excruciation kept her alert as she used the objects in the room to help her toward the door. “Where is the phone?” she whispered to herself. She stuck her head into the hallway. She could see the double doors that led to the lobby. Behind them was Ma’tee, lurking, preying on her. Her heart rate increased from the fear of seeing his face again.

Desperation and adrenaline filled her as she put her back against the wall and crept to the next room. She opened the door and frantically scanned for a phone. “Thank you, God!” she cried as she rushed toward it. Moving too quickly, she fell. “Aghh!” she accidentally cried out as her leg hit the floor. She covered her mouth to stop herself from making too much noise. Tears flooded her face as she reached for the phone. The dial tone she heard was like music to her ears. Her fingers trembled as she tried to dial out, causing her to call the wrong number, 810. Shit! What is his number? Her mind was so frantic that she could barely recall the correct sequence, 1-810-625-1816.

She could hear footsteps coming down the hallway, and she cradled the phone for dear life. Please answer! Come on, please pick up!

Ring! Ring!

Answer! she begged as the footsteps drew closer.

Please, I need you…

Ring! Ring!

Zyir bobbed his head to the Rick Ross that was blaring from his speakers, when he felt his cell phone vibrate on his hip. He was on his way back from Opalocka, and he had a quarter million dollars in his trunk and rode with a pistol in his lap for extra security. He turned down the stereo and looked at the unknown call coming in on his BlackBerry. “Yo?” he answered.

All he heard was crying in the phone, and he started to end the call thinking that someone had the wrong number.

“Zy… Zyir!” the shaky voice said.

He recognized her voice instantly. Emotions came rushing over him. “Breeze?” he whispered in disbelief as his heart sank into his stomach.

Breeze was so hysterical when she heard him answer the phone that she couldn’t get her words together. Every time she tried to speak, only sobs came out.

“Breeze, talk to me, ma! Calm down! Where are you? You’ve got to tell me where you are!” she heard him yell.

Just the sound of his voice caused her to fall apart. “Zyir!” she whispered frantically. “Zyir, please…” were the only words she was able to get out before the footsteps were at the door. She hurried and pushed the telephone underneath the bed, but didn’t disconnect the call.

The door opened, and a confused doctor rushed inside. “What are chu doing in here? Chu should still be in recovery,” she said.

“Please, Zyir… I have to talk to Zyir!” Breeze pleaded with the doctor, but she was quickly silenced when she heard Ma’tee demanding to see her. The heavy impact from his boots echoed against the hospital floor, announcing his presence. “Don’t let him take me!” Breeze cried as she looked the doctor in her eyes.

The doctor could see the frightened look on Breeze’s face, and she instantly knew that something was not right.

When Ma’tee appeared in the doorway, the doctor looked from Breeze to Ma’tee.

“Is everything okay back here?” he asked.

His voice was eerie and threatening. Breeze’s fear of him was so great that she felt like she was having a heart attack. She couldn’t stop herself from crying. Zyir was so close. She had heard his voice. I just needed a few more minutes to tell him where I am, she thought as she sobbed.

“Everything is fine,” the doctor answered nervously. She helped Breeze into the bed and lifted her leg. “She is in a lot of pain, and I haven’t administered her any pain medications yet. This type of pain will make a grown man cry. It is not unusual.”

“Me need to get her back home. She can recover there,” Ma’tee asserted. His tone did not leave room for protest, and he came into the room and sat next to Breeze who trembled timidly from his presence. Ma’tee examined her closely, intimidating her.

The doctor could sense tension in the air. She rubbed

Breeze’s shoulders. “The anesthesia has she temperature low,” the doctor said, covering for Breeze.

Breeze wasn’t shaking because she was cold. She was angry. She was terrified. She was praying that Zyir had not hung up his phone and that he could somehow save her.

The doctor looked Breeze directly in the eyes and said, “Everything will be fine. “I’m going to get discharge papers for you to sign, young lady. Me will be right back,” she said.

The doctor disappeared, and Ma’tee sat down directly on the bed with her. The smell of him nauseated her and made her skin crawl. He didn’t say a word to her, but instead stared at her intensely, trying to determine whether or not she had told anyone anything.

Breeze closed her eyes and thought of Zyir. She recalled his face in her mind, and forced herself to calm down.