Jackie D. - Life After A Balla

Skye’s eyes filled with tears once again as she lowered her head. “Umm…I don’t have any insurance.”

The woman looked at her and sat back in her chair.

“Could you just bill me?” Skye questioned.

The woman took a deep breath. “We could, but the hospital doesn’t like to take that route. What about her father? Could we possibly bill his insurance company?”

“No,” was all Skye could mutter.

Obviously feeling sorry for her, the woman tapped Skye on her hand. “I understand, I have a daughter, too.”

Tears fell on the paperwork as Skye filled it out.

“Don’t worry. Just make sure you provide us with a current address so the bill doesn’t come back undeliverable,” the woman said with a warm tone.

Skye was not only embarrassed, but it felt like she’d failed her kids.

I can deal with being broke, but when it comes to my children’s health and well being it’s a different story. I know what I have to do, my kids deserve better , she thought.

After sitting in the waiting room for what seemed like forever, Skye could feel her body temperature increase when she saw Cruze walking toward her direction. He’d obviously gotten her whereabouts in the hospital from the information desk downstairs. The closer he got, the more heated she became. Skye turned her head and rolled her eyes.

When Cruze rushed over and sat down beside her, he moved Skye’s hair back and examined the bandages on her forehead like he was the doctor. He then put his hand on her leg. She instantly pushed him away.

“I rushed right over when I got your message. Are you okay? Is Payton still in surgery?” he inquired.

Skye gave him a crazy look, right before going off. “You rushed right over, huh? If you would’ve rushed your ass home last night none of this shit would be happening right now.”

“Baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize how tired I was after unloading all those cars last night. The fact that we had just got back from the trip to Miami didn’t help either. I sat down on the couch in the back room at work and ended up falling asleep. I didn’t even realize the battery on my phone had died either. I would still be there if my boss hadn’t come in and woke me up,” Cruze said, yawning.

Skye’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe he was lying right in front of her face. “You’re such a damn liar!” she yelled. Everyone in the waiting area looked at her even though she could care less. “I went by your so-called job. You’ve never worked there!”

Cruze looked around to see who might’ve been enjoying the shouting match. “Can you please lower your voice?” he pleaded.

“Absolutely not! Are you cheating on me, Cruze?”

“No baby, I would never do that to you.”

“Well, where the fuck were you?”

“Can we discuss this later? This isn’t the place or the time,” Cruze said. The truth was he’d definitely fallen asleep working, but it was in his car, not at a car lot. He knew, however, Skye couldn’t handle the truth right now.

“You better tell me some…” Skye stopped talking when she saw Dr. Matthews approach them.

“Ms. Washington, Payton’s surgery went well, but I still want to monitor her progress over the next day or so. She’s in recovery right now. You should be able to see her in about forty minutes. You’ll need to limit any activity that might put pressure on the injured area. Also, she’s going to need long-term follow up care. This is necessary to observe her recuperation and growth.”

Skye put her hands over her mouth. She was so grateful Payton was going to be okay. “Thank you so much, Dr. Mathews. You’ve displayed such a caring attitude. I apologize for being so disruptive earlier,” Skye said, wiping a tear from her face.

“You’re welcome, Ms. Washington, and I completely understand. I’ll come check in on her again before I finish my shift.”

When he walked off, Cruze grabbed Skye’s hand.

“Baby, you can relax now, the doc said she’s going to be fine.”

Skye immediately pulled away and looked at him. “I’m still waiting for you to tell me what the fuck is going on.”

Cruze lowered his head. He could see the disappointment in her eyes. He had to tell her something. “Look, I had to step up and make some decisions on my own that will help all of us in the long run. I lied about the job because I know that’s the type of dude you want me to be, but I’m just not the 9 to 5 type.”

“What type of decision are you talking about, Cruze?”

“I can’t tell you that right now but just trust me,” he replied.

Skye’s eyes became two sizes bigger. She couldn’t believe he lied to her the entire time and now he refused to tell her the truth. They both promised they would always be honest with one another and Cruze had betrayed that trust.

“Well, since you were out making decisions all fucking night without considering me, I’m making one without considering you!”

Cruze looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. “What do you mean by that?”

“I’m moving back to Miami to take care of my husband!”

Cruze followed Skye as she stormed out of the hospital and into the parking lot.

“Leave me alone, Cruze! Go back to wherever the hell you were last night!” Skye blasted. She was irritated at the fact that he even bothered to show up.

He was in complete shock after hearing her remark about going back to Miami and wanted to discuss it further. Furious, he grabbed her by the arm and slung her around.

“I know I didn’t just hear you say you were moving back to Miami to take care of Sandino.”

Skye quickly snatched her arm away as flashbacks of Sandino’s abuse flooded her mind. She went ballistic. “Don’t you ever put your fucking hands on me again! Ever!”

“So, is that what the meeting in Miami was all about? Why would you even consider going back to a nigga who tried to fucking kill you? I can’t believe you would do this shit to me,” he yelled in her face.

Skye gave him an evil glare for a moment shaking her head. “You can’t believe I would do this to you? What about me? I don’t even know who the fuck you are right now or where you were last night. My daughter is laid up in the hospital and all you can do is think about yourself. I don’t even have health insurance for my kids. Do you know how that shit feels?”

Skye stopped shouting when she noticed the blinking lights from a security guard’s car coming towards them. It wasn’t long before a broad-shouldered guy got out and made his way in their direction.

“This rent a cop muthafucka,” Cruze said to himself.

“Hello folks. I’ve received a few complaints about a couple arguing in the parking lot. Is everything okay here?” the guard asked.

Skye looked in another direction without saying anything.

“We straight. We just had a little disagreement, that’s all,” Cruze told him.

The guard looked at Skye. “Is that true, ma’am?”

“Yes, everything is fine. I was just about to head back inside to check on my daughter,” she assured him.

“Alright,” the guard said, looking them both up and down before getting back into his car. When he pulled off, Cruze directed his attention back to Skye.

“So, are we gonna finish this conversation?”

“It’s funny how you want me to be open when it comes to what I’m doing, but your ass didn’t feel the need to talk to me about whatever the fuck you were doing last night. There’s nothing else to talk about, Cruze. Bottom line is, you’re not gonna be in my life playing games and I thought I made myself clear about that when we first got together. Besides, neither one of us has a damn job and I have to be able to provide for my kids. What other choice do I have?”