She opened the door before I could finish my sentence. “Don’t tell me. You and Stephanie had a fight?”
I nodded. “I couldn’t take her shit anymore. I left.”
“I understand.” She smiled sympathetically “My brother just went through the same thing. Some women don’t understand when they got it good.” I nodded my agreement.
“That invitation to sleep on your couch still open?”
“Sure. Long as you paying for groceries, you can stay as long as you like. I just have one rule.”
“What’s that?”
“Keep your woman and your kids away from my house, ’cause I don’t wanna deal with no baby momma drama. And from what I’ve seen, you’ve got some of the worst I’ve ever heard of.”
“Yeah, I guess I do have more than my fair share.”
29
I hobbled into the Shoney’s in Petersburg, where I was supposed to meet Joe for breakfast. I was almost forty minutes late, and by the expression on his face it was clear he wasn’t very happy with me. We were supposed to meet for breakfast before we headed over to his mom’s to do some painting. Joe wanted to get started early, ’cause the Duke basketball game was on later. He was a huge Duke fan. It wasn’t even a question that he was gonna have an attitude if we didn’t finish all the painting by noon.
“Hey, man. Sorry I’m late. I had a rough night.”
“Whatever,” he sneered, shoveling a forkful of eggs into his mouth. He didn’t even look up from the newspaper he was reading. “Sit down and eat so we can get the hell outta here. I ordered your usual.”
I slid into the booth with a grimace. Every muscle in my body ached from the beating I took the night before.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked, finally lifting his head. “Damn, you look like shit. What the hell happened to your face?” Joe put down his fork and inspected my bruised face.
“Man, I should’ve never listened to your ass and went up to see that girl.”
“So you went up to Richmond last night, huh?” I nodded and he continued. “I take it things didn’t go so well. What’d she do, slap the shit out of you again?” Joe laughed, but I didn’t think a damn thing was funny.
I’d gone up to Jasmine’s place last night with the intention of mending things between us. I’d been trying to get in touch with her all week, but she’d changed her home phone number and her cell phone number. And when I tried to contact her at the post office, they refused to forward my calls to her office.
I’d been going crazy trying to get in touch with her. I knew I could make her understand that my kiss with Monica meant nothing. I just had to get her to listen to what I had to say. We’d been so close to making things work between us. I just wanted another chance at that. As far as I was concerned, Monica and the baby were just a little bump in the road. Well, maybe a big bump in the road, but we could still work it out. All Jasmine had to do was listen to me. By Friday I was really starting to get depressed, so Joe suggested that I go up to see her in person. He said if I showed up with a dozen roses in hand, she’d at least have to listen to what I had to say. Unfortunately, when I got there the only words I got to speak to her were from the ground. And they were a plea for help.
“So what the hell happened up there, anyway?” Joe asked, snapping me back to the present.
“Derrick is what happened,” I told him.
“Derrick, Derrick,” Joe repeated like he was trying to remember something. “Oh, you mean her boyfriend? I thought he wasn’t coming home for a couple o’ months.”
“That’s what I thought. As you can see, we were both wrong. He and his boys jumped me last night.” I lifted my shirt so he could see the bruises that covered most of my body.
“Damn! You want me to call up a few of the fellas? We can go up there and pay this Derrick a little visit if you want.”
I took a deep breath. Joe’s suggestion was tempting, but not anything I hadn’t thought about for most of the ride home last night. After Sabrina helped me into my car, I only had one thing on my mind: I wanted revenge so bad I could taste it. But the closer I got to Petersburg, the more I realized that it wasn’t Derrick’s fault at all. It was Jasmine’s fault. I would never have gone to her place if I had known Derrick was out of prison. All she had to do was answer one of my calls.
Derrick must’ve been outside with a few of his boys when I pulled into the complex. There’s always somebody hanging out in her parking lot, so I didn’t pay any attention to them. I was too busy noticing all the cars that were parked around the place. There was definitely someone throwing one hell of a party. And from the blaring music and people around her apartment, it was clear Jasmine was that someone.
I have to admit, I felt left out when I heard all the laughter coming from her place. A week before, I would’ve been right there, partying with them. Now it seemed like she was getting over me a hell of a lot faster than I was getting over her.
That’s why I decided to write a note instead of knocking on the door. The last thing I wanted was to walk in on her party uninvited. There’s no better way to make a fool outta yourself than to crash a party and then be asked to leave. I wasn’t about to risk that kind of humiliation.
So I sat in my car and wrote her a note. I asked her to please give me a chance to explain and to give us a chance at happiness. I planned to leave it with a rose on her windshield, so I picked up the flower and headed to her car. That was when the trouble started. When I reached her car, the door was unlocked like it always was. She had a bad habit of leaving her car door open, but I’d been trying to break her of that habit Not too long ago, she had bought a new car stereo, and I knew she would’ve been pissed if it was stolen like the last one. So I opened the car door to lock it for her. Big mistake.
“What the fuck you doing in my car, nigga?” I didn’t recognize the voice, but when I turned around I damn sure recognized the face. I’d seen it in dozens of pictures scattered throughout Jasmine’s apartment. It was Derrick. Only he wasn’t supposed to be out for at least two months.
“I asked you a question, nigga. What the fuck you doing in my car?”
“Yo, man. Take it easy.” Luckily, it was dark enough that Derrick didn’t see me toss the rose and stuff the note in my pocket. I held my hands up and stepped back from the car. “I was just locking your car doors. That’s all.” I smiled, trying to look cool, but I know I looked nervous. I could take Derrick in a fight. Of that I was confident. But his three friend, they were a different story. Those three brothers were huge, and the 40s in their hands could be turned into some serious weapons. If I was gonna survive, diplomacy was probably my best option.
“Is that so?’ Derrick laughed, and they moved in closer.
“Yeah, I was just locking your door. It looks like you got an expensive stereo in there. Can’t be too safe these days. You never know who’s gonna try and rip you off.” I patted the car.
He laughed again.
“Did you hear this, y‘all?” Derrick looked back at his friends. “He was locking my car ’cause he was worried about someone ripping me off.” They all laughed as they moved in closer. “Damn, that’s nice of you, brotha. And to think I thought you was gonna rob me of that stereo.”
“Who, me? Nah. I wouldn’t do that.” I shook my head nervously as I scanned the area for an escape route.
“I bet you wouldn’t. Why don’t you let me thank you properly?” He raised his fist, but I was ready for it. Before he could connect, I hit him as hard as I could right in the stomach. I didn’t get in a second blow, though, ’cause his friends were on me like white on rice. The next thing I knew, I was being stomped and kicked by all four of them. If it wasn’t for Jasmine’s friend Sabrina, I’d probably be in intensive care right about now.