Miasha: Secret Society

“Okay, so now that you found me here, what’s up?”

“You know what the fuck is up. James wrote me a long letter-now you tell me what the fuck is up,” Khalil said.

I went back into the living room because at that point I knew exactly what Khalil was there for.

“Matter fact, why don’t both of yall tell me what the fuck is up,” Khalil said.

“Listen, neither of us has time for this shit right now. I’m sure you have a lot of people you want to see, being as though you just got released from prison and everything,” Tina said sarcastically.

“Naw, I got plenty of time. And I got released almost two months ago, so I made all my visits. Matter fact, I went to see James play in L.A. a couple weeks ago, and it was funny ’cause he told me he seen you, and I was looking for you but I couldn’t catch up with you, but I knew I would eventually catch up with you. I made it my business to catch up with you.”

Tina rolled her eyes and looked at me. I was standing there contemplating how we should handle the situation. I was ready to go for the phone, but Tina gave me a hint that she had everything under control.

“I don’t know what yall lookin’ so lost for, yall home,” Khalil said as he stood up from the sofa.

I took a deep breath. “Khalil, this isn’t the time or the place,” I said.

“You need to shut the fuck up!” Khalil snapped.

“Don’t even involve her!” Tina said in my defense.

“I didn’t involve her, she involved me! Both of yall bitches involved me!”

Tina started to walk away from Khalil toward the front door. I followed her lead.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Khalil asked as he pushed past me and grabbed Tina’s arm.

Tina was scared, I could tell, but she played cool.

“Just tell me one thing, Tina,” Khalil began.

“What’s that?” Tina asked, with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.

“Is what James told me true?”

Tina rolled her eyes and said, “Celess, go wait for me in the car. I’m only gonna be a minute.”

“I’m waiting in here,” I insisted. Regardless how scared I was, and how bad I would have loved to have waited in the car. I wasn’t about to leave Tina in there with Khalil by herself.

“You damn right you’re waiting in here,” Khalil said as he grabbed my arm with his free hand.

I swung on him and yanked away from him. Tina took advantage of the opportunity and yanked away from him too. We both dashed for the door and then we heard a loud pop. Tina fell down on my living room floor. I turned around, and Khalil was pointing a gun at me.

“Tina!” I screamed, startled and frozen.

Tina rolled onto her back. She was bleeding from a small hole in the back of her leg.

“Leave Celess out of this. This is between me and you,” she said with tears streaming down her face. That was the first time I actually seen Tina cry.

“You know what, bitch, you fucked with the wrong one! I’m gonna kill you right in front of ya little boyfriend, and then I’m gonna kill him! You played the wrong card this time! You fucked with the wrong one!”

POP! POP!

“TINA! TINA!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I dropped to the floor and placed my hands over Tina’s drooped head, trying to comfort her. My hands were immediately drenched with Tina’s blood. I was shaking uncontrollably. I looked up at Khalil one last time.

POP!

My head fell up against the wall. My body was lifeless. My mind went blank.

I woke up to silence. My face felt heavy. I could only seethe ceiling. I lifted my arms and felt my face. It was covered with bandages. I panicked. I opened my mouth to speak, but only a whisper came out.

A nurse appeared. “Hi, there,” she said in a soft tone. She was smiling. “My name is Nurse Schwartz. I’m going to be taking care of you.”

“What the fuck are you smiling about? Where am I? What is all this shit on my face? Where is Tina?”

“Calm down. You lost a lot of blood, honey. We wouldn’t want you have a seizure again.”

“Seizure? What do you mean, seizure?” I asked.

“You keep passing out. You wake up and get yourself all worked up and then you faint. Take deep breaths,” she said.

I followed her instructions. I took several deep breaths, but my head was racing and I couldn’t help it. I needed to know what was happening.

“All right, I’m calm. Now tell me what’s going on.”

“You were shot with a thirty-eight-caliber shotgun at close range. You are lucky to be alive,” she said bluntly.

“Where is Tina?” I asked, not the least bit concerned about myself.

“Is Tina the woman who was with you?”

“Yes, she was just right here. Where is she? I need to talk to her.”

“You can’t speak to her right now.”

“Then when can I speak to her? I need to see her. I need to talk to her. I need to make sure she’s all right.”

“When you’re feeling a little better, okay?”

“I’m feeling better now. I need to see Tina. Where is she?”

The nurse grabbed my hand and held it firmly. “Calm down. We don’t want you to pass out. Right now you need to calm down.”

“Then tell me where Tina is! I can’t calm down! I need to see Tina!”

The nurse swallowed and said, “Tina is not here.”

“Where is she? I need to talk to her!”

The nurse held my hand tighter. I felt my body beginning to tremble.

“Just tell me where she is!”

“Calm down, please, for your own good.”

My body started trembling. I couldn’t control it. My hands were shaking. My eyes were rolling in my head.

“She’s having another one, Doctor!” The nurse’s voice called out.

I was having a seizure.

Four weeks after I was hospitalized, the seizures went away. I could sit up on my own. I could stand for more than six minutes without falling. I was ready to go home-to my new home.

My house was sold while I was recovering. I used the money to buy another one, a little smaller but in the same neighborhood. I sold my car and the condo that Tina and Derrek had bought for me, so I was sitting on a nice little stash. Plus I had money coming in from the duplex Tariq had bought for me. So my medical bills were paid and I had enough money to live off for a while before I would need to turn to disability.

“Hi, darling,” a familiar voice said.

I put my pudding cup down on the tray and turned toward the door of my hospital room.

“Der-rek,” I sang.

“Look at you sitting up,” Derrek said.

I opened my arms to accept his hug. He pulled away from me and looked me up and down.

“You’re looking a lot better these days,” he said with tears in his eyes. “How do you feel?”

“I should be asking you that,” I said.

Derrek wiped his eyes. “She’s at peace, that’s for sure,” he said, forcing a grin.

I sniffed to keep from crying and said, “I’m so sorry I missed the funeral.”

“I know that. But it wasn’t safe for you to go, not with your injuries. And Tina would never have wanted you to risk your life to see her in a coffin,” he assured me.

“Well, how was it? Tell me every detail,” I told him.

“Well, let’s see, I purchased the land where she and I got married, and buried her right there. It was a small funeral, smaller than the wedding. The minister said a few words and we all went up one at a time to view the body. The casket was beautiful. It was marble with solid gold trimming. Tina looked beautiful, too. They did her up real well. You would have been happy. She was dressed in her wedding gown with her veil covering her face. You know, to hide the wounds. Her hands were folded together, holding a bouquet of white roses,” Tears gathered in Derrek’s eyes.