End of the Line (16 page)

Leesa heard sounds of moving around coming from the other side of the room and looked in the direction of the bed. Elated, she saw J-Rite looking directly at her. Wasting no time, she leaped to her feet, rushing to her sister-in-law’s bedside. “Jessica, baby, are you all right? How you feel? Oh my God, I’m glad you’re awake.”

“Yes . . .” J-Rite tried to speak but couldn’t seem to be able to push the words out to form a response. Finally being able to raise her arm, she put her hand cupped around her neck signifying that something may have been stuck in her throat.

“Don’t try to talk. Just wait. They just took the tubes out not too long ago,” Leesa said, then pushed the call button to get the nurse to come to the room and render some much-needed aid.

“Oh great, I see you are awake, Ms. Sanders. How do you feel?” a nurse asked, walking in the room a few seconds later.

“My throat’s really sore.” J-Rite barely got the words out, feeling her voice getting a little stronger.

“So this is a good sign, right? I mean, this does mean that she’s going to be okay, right?” Leesa had been on bed watch praying that everything was going to be okay.

“It’s safe to say that she’s going to be fine, but I have to go and get a doctor to give you an official update of what he believes the case to be.” The nurse took her patient’s vitals, then left the room to get the doctor on duty.

Leesa was ecstatic to know that she was going to be okay. “I’m glad you all right, li’l sis.” Leesa rubbed J-Rite’s arm. “Raven and them been down here too.”

“How’s my baby? Is my baby okay?” J-Rite anxiously asked the nurse who had returned with ice chips for her sore throat, ignoring anything else said or done.

The nurse looked at Leesa. She didn’t know if Leesa was going to tell her the tragic news or if she had to. Leesa decided to take the lead. “Sis, now, you know I love you with all my heart, right?”

Not a fool by a long shot, J-Rite could easily sense that something was wrong when Leesa started the conversation off the way she did. “How’s my baby?” She repeated as her throat got less sore.

The nurse had still yet to speak, but Leesa did. “Sis, did you hear me and what I said?”

This made J-Rite agitated. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. As Leesa and the nurse stood looking at her with pity, she wanted to hear the words. She knew the answer, but for some reason wanted to hear it spoken out loud. “How the fuck is my baby?” she asked for the third time, raising her voice.

“The baby didn’t make it, sweetie. I’m so sorry.” Leesa was hurt having been the bearer of bad news. Tears started pouring out of J-Rite’s eyes. Seeing the amount of sheer emotion from her patient, the nurse took that as her cue, walking toward the door. She knew that the two girls needed to be alone and deal with what was just said. “Don’t cry, it’s going to be okay, I promise,” Leesa swore, placing her hand on top of J-Rite’s.

“Yeah, whatever. That’s easy for you to say.” She was infuriated, snatching her hand away from Leesa’s touch.

“Sis, what the hell wrong with you?”

“Oh, now you wanna play dumb! It’s your fault this shit happened to me off rip,” she said, the moments and seconds before the car crash were now coming back to her.

“What the hell are you talking about? How is that?”

“Well, if you wouldn’t have been in the house sucking and fucking some random-ass nigga like forgetting my brother, then I wouldn’t have run up out of your damn place like that!” Hearing this, Leesa was speechless. “Yeah, you look real stupid right about now, you baby killer in heels!” J-Rite screamed looking at the blank expression Leesa was wearing on her face.

“Hey, sis, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Q. I was going to, but I just couldn’t find the right time.”

“When? I bet you been fucking him for a long time. Like I said, forget Hutch, huh?”

Leesa didn’t speak. She just sat there allowing a hurt-hearted J-Rite to have her say.

“Yup, that long pause tells me I’m right. That’s all kinds of fucked up! Why is you even here? I’m confused! You don’t care about me or Hutch. Just please go get Raven and leave me the fuck alone, please!”

“Look, Jessica—”

“I told you to get Raven! I
know
she’s here,” she yelled, turning her head the other way so she wouldn’t have to look at Leesa any further.

“Fine then, I love you, sis; I really do. And I know you’re hurt and confused right now, but you can make this your last time talking to me like I’m some stray bitch off the streets that ain’t had your back since the day I met you and Hutch!” Leesa was done being J-Rite’s verbal doormat as she stormed out of the hospital room and into the hallway.

How could she play me and Hutch like that? I done lost everything that matters to me
. J-Rite didn’t care how anybody else felt at this point. She had been through so much recently she wanted all the sympathy the world had to offer.

A few minutes later Raven walked in the room. “Why are you crying, girl?”

“I’m all right, I guess, but I lost my baby.” She wiped her eyes with both hands.

“I don’t know what to say. It’s all right. Shit happens, but you’re young.” Raven was trying to seem hard knowing she was in pain for her friend.

“Yeah, I know, I’m just still glad I got you in my life.”

“Girl, what are you talking about? I’m confused. You got
all
of us: me, Tone, Mario, and Leesa,” Raven said confused by J-Rite’s comment.

“Yeah, whelp, I ain’t too sure about Leesa. She can’t be trusted.”

“Huh? What the fuck is you talking about? That girl been down here all night at your bedside crying, praying, and the whole nine,” Raven stated, confused why J-Rite was saying what she had said.

“Naw, Leesa was on some real foul shit! That’s why I got in an accident and why my damn baby is dead!”

“What the hell are you talking about? What she do? Please tell me!”

“Girl, she’s fucking around on Hutch.”

“Say what? Come on, J-Rite, Leesa ain’t fucking around on Hutch. How could she?”

“Yeah, she is. I saw it with my own eyes. I seen her in bed with some nigga.”

Raven knew that after all these years J-Rite still hadn’t gotten over Hutch being dead. That was evident how she kept his memory elevated high on a pedestal. However, Raven didn’t think that it was this bad. She had no idea whatsoever if J-Rite was delusional. “Girl, you know that I always keep it real with you, but you and I both know that he’s gone, right? Hutch is not coming back.”

J-Rite gave Raven a look that could freeze a polar bear. “So I guess you’re on Leesa’s side, huh? You think that whorish shit she did was okay?”

“Look, I’m on nobody’s side. Y’all both my sisters, and I’m not gonna be in the middle of something that doesn’t make any sense. You can’t expect for Leesa not to have a life with anyone else until she’d dead. That’s just crazy to think. I’m just being real.”

“Yeah, I see what this is. You’re on her side.” J-Rite was about done talking and dealing with Raven as she was with Leesa. As far as she was concerned, the world was against her; all her friends included.

“Come on now, J, we can’t be like this. There’s too much shit going on right now that’s life and death. You need to pull it together.” Raven wanted to tell J-Rite that Benji and Tyrus were family. And that Tyrus was probably going to make a move soon. But she didn’t know how.
I can’t tell her this shit; she’ll go crazier than she already is.

How Raven gon’ take Leesa’s side? Leesa know she wrong for being with that dude. That’s why she ain’t say nothing all this time!
“Hey, is Tone out there?” J-Rite asked not wanting to be bothered with Raven’s judgmental ass any longer.

“Naw, girl, but Mario is. You want me to go get him?”

“Yeah, I do.” She once again turned her face to the other side of the room showing that the visit was over.

Raven got up, turned, and walked to the door. When she got to the door she stopped and looked back over her shoulder. “You know we all love you, girl. That shit with Dino . . . know the baby and Leesa just got you off your square. But it’s all good. I know you’ll be back to your old self in no time.”

J-Rite didn’t respond, continuing to stare off into space.

A few seconds later, Mario walked in the room making all kinds of noise like this wasn’t a hospital but a club on Friday night, “Hey, hey, now! What’s good, baby girl?”

“Hey, Mario.” Her face lit up knowing if anyone was going to be on her side no matter what it’d be Tone or Mario.

“Girl, you had all them busters worried.”

“Oh, so you wasn’t worried.” She gave him a faint grin, grabbing a few more ice chips out of the white Styrofoam cup to ease her throat pain.

“Hell, naw! I know you a hood-raised trooper,” Mario lied. When he got the call he was probably more worried than anybody. Without hesitation, he walked over to the bed and put his huge arms around J-Rite, almost bear-hugging the IV out of her arm.

“You know I’m always gonna be good. Where’s your brother at?”

“He went on a run with that nigga Benji. Now all of a sudden they all cool. Maybe they forming an ‘I fucked Raven Club’ and a nigga like me ain’t qualified to join,” Mario sarcastically remarked.

“And what about y’all? Y’all all good yet or what?” J-Rite inquired, referring to Raven and his brother. “You and him got y’all shit back where the hell it’s supposed to be instead of acting a fool?”

“Look, fam, after last night, I know life is too damn fucking short. So I’m gonna talk to Tone when they get back; me and Raven already kicked it. We a hundred with it.”

“That’s cool. That’s what’s gonna keep us strong as a team.”

“Hey, J, I’m sorry about the baby. I heard.”

“I appreciate you. I know I said I didn’t know if I was gonna keep it or not. But I ain’t gonna lie, I’m kinda fucked up over it, but what can I do? It is what it is.”

Mario was happy to see she was as positive as could be expected. He was in the dark and didn’t know not only about the way she felt Leesa had done her dead brother, but the way Raven seemed not to care. J-Rite felt that it was best to leave it alone for now and let things play out how they had to.

“So tell me this. Why you weren’t tripping on me about being mad at Raven and Tone for that slimeball shit they did? I mean, you wasn’t all on my head like
I
was the one that was out of order.”

“Probably because I know what it’s like to be in love, so I can understand how you feel. It’s funny how you can want somebody so damn bad, and they don’t want you in return.”

“Yeah, I feel that. So what’s our next move, boss?”

J-Rite smiled at his comment. She didn’t know what the next move should be; if any at all. Part of her mind was saying go to war and let these Grand Rapids niggas know what’s really good with the Detroit bloodline, while the other part was saying just leave and go back home where the love was real in the streets. “I don’t know yet, soldier. You tell me what you think we should do next.”

He sat down in a chair, leaned back, and rubbed his chin. “I ain’t got a clue.” He laughed, hunching his shoulders.

“Well, I’ll be out of here soon, so we’ll see then what should pop off.”

After talking for a short while, Mario stood to his feet and stretched his arms high. “Well, I’m about to get outta here. You need anything?”

“Yeah, fool, a blunt.”

“Okay, well that ain’t ’bout to happen, but I’ll blow a box for you.”

“Yeah, that’s gon’ really help me.”

Mario walked over to her bed and kissed her on the forehead. “I love you, J; to the moon and back. And, oh yeah, I took care of that R and S situation, so we good.”

“I knew I could count on you, if no one else!”

Mario walked out of the room leaving her to her twisted mind thoughts. She didn’t know what to make of the situation with Leesa. Deep down in her heart, she wanted Leesa to be happy, but she felt betrayed.
Maybe I am on some bullshit! I should want Leesa to be happy. I know I would want her to be happy for me.
Her mind then drifted off to Dino and all the heartache and pain he’d caused her. Not to mention he’d burned her fucking around with some other female that couldn’t love him half as much as she did.
I can’t believe that I lost the love of my life. I used to think that we would be together forever. Ain’t no need to tell him ’bout this baby. He don’t want it anyway. He probably somewhere laid up with the gut-bucket bitch that set his dick on fire in the first place.

Dino pulled up in Monique’s driveway and cut his car off. Since he’d left J-Rite he bought a struggle buggy and was driving that to be more low key
.
As he sat there thinking about how his life had changed so drastically in the past few months, part of him wanted to call J-Rite and wave the white flag. He was trying to lie to himself like he didn’t want to do that, when truth be told, she was probably the best thing that ever happened to him in life. As he leaned back in the driver’s seat caught up in his thoughts his cell phone rang. Dino looked at the caller ID, then answered it. “Marlon, what’s up with you?”

“Hey, I got that address that you needed.”

“All right, that’s what’s up. Give it to me real quick.” After Dino was done getting the information that he requested, he pulled back out of the driveway and headed to his destination. Watching his surroundings, he pulled up to the address Marlon had given him. The fact that the small framed house was shabby came as no big shock. Dino had been around enough drug users in his life to know if they were high they would rest their spaced-out heads anywhere they could until their inner beast was once again awaken demanding another blast. Cutting the engine off, he got out of the car after seeing Dre sitting on the far side of the porch in a lawn chair.

Dre didn’t move a muscle when the strange vehicle stopped in front of his temporary home away from home. Thank God, since Rell had been swinging by blessing him with money here and there, he didn’t have to get any credit from the dope man or beg, borrow, or steal. Dre didn’t owe anyone anything, so there was no need to run, duck, or hide. Instead, he continued to sit back and enjoy the evening breeze and ponder on how to get back to his old self.

I swear before three or four gods this nigga better be clean,
Dino thought, getting out of his car and walking up to the porch. “What’s up, nigga? You good or what?”

“Dino! What up, baby boy? Damn, aww shit, it’s good to see your ass; for real!” Dre jumped up rushing from the other side of the porch to the edge of the stairs smiling after realizing who it was. Not standing on formalities, Dre stuck his arms out to hug his old friend and show him some love. At first, Dino resisted, but gave in.

This dude look like he has been trying to stay clean. But who knows. I guess I gotta put him through the test and see what’s really good with him.
“So, fam, I ain’t come here to bullshit with you or run some lame-ass game. The bottom line is we still at war every day with niggas who think they can relocate up here to Gun Ru and run our city better than us. I need you back in the car with me. You know, watching my back in the game like we used to do.”

Dre was silent at first, caught off guard, not knowing how to respond. “I don’t know, Dino; things a lot different now. I mean, I done changed since being on that shit. I have seen things and done things that I never thought I would have seen or done in two lifetimes.”

“Look, guy, I know you clean. Well, you looking better.” Dino looked his boy up and down. “But I ain’t talking about what you done did fucked up in the name of getting high. I’m talking about you being my wingman again.”

This nigga still trust me like that? He must still got love for me
.
So why was Rell over here talking that garbage about Dino?
“You sure you want me back around like that, even after I done messed up and took the money from our joint account?”

“Yeah, fool, I wouldn’t trust anybody but you for this next level we gonna try to reach after we tie up these loose ends out here in these streets. Look, Dre, I need you to watch my back like I said. Now, you gonna step back up and be all in, or you just out? What’s the deal?”

“All right, Dino, I’m down, but I just need one favor.”

“What is it?” Dino asked, hoping that it wasn’t money.

“I need you to pay for me to go to rehab.”

Dino looked at Dre with a surprised expression.

“Yeah, man, I need for you to pay for me to go to rehab. I need that in my life.”

“But why if you clean now? I don’t understand.”

“Dino, my nigga, that boy is a bad drug. If you don’t have it, you gon’ get sick, and I’m trying to kick it without the meds. So I wanna to go there for the moral support. Like I said, I wanna be back down, no doubt. But I wanna be strong enough to stand tall and not fall back on my knees like some little bitch.”

“Yeah, I can do that.”
I’m glad my nigga trying to get his shit together.

“Don’t you wanna know how much before you start say yeah?”

Dino had been running amuck lately and would do just about anything to get someone back around him that he could trust. Sure, Marlon had proven himself time after time, but Dino and Dre were cut from a different cloth; well, they used to be anyway. “Dawg, I don’t give a fuck what it cost! I’ll take you tomorrow. Do you know a place?”

“Yeah, it’s a place that I called. I like this place because I can’t check myself out of it. Only the people on my papers can, which I figured would be you, Marlon, or Rell.”

“How long is the program?”

“It’s up to me. They say only I can determine when I’m ready. On another note, how is J-Rite? I ain’t heard you mention her at all.”

Dino’s upbeat mood changed hearing his ex’s name. “She’s a closed chapter in the book of life. Me and her ain’t got no more dealings. Matter of fact, to keep things real, we beefing strong out here; the streets gonna run red real soon.”

“What that mean?” Dre asked, not understanding what Dino was talking about.

“It ain’t nothing; it’s just fuck her, that’s all.” Dino started walking off the porch and down the walkway. “Well, I’ll be through tomorrow, and we can go do that.”

“All right, fam, I’ll be ready. And thanks for helping your manz out when he need you the most. I swear I appreciate you.”

When Dino pulled off, he started thinking that for things to really get back to some kind of normal that he was going to have to take care of J-Rite. He’d been around her long enough to know how she gets down and how vindictive she could be when pushed. He’d seen her in action before, and the way she clown was nothing nice. Dino had a flashback of the last conversation they had at the county jail. Not only did he threaten to kill her and her people, but he had denied the baby she was carrying that deep down inside he knew was his. Not to mention he burnt her. Dino rehashed all of those things and knew that there was no turning back the hands of time. J-Rite was not going to let shit go, so neither was he. Snapping back to reality, he realized he had bigger fish to fry within his own camp before they were war ready.
I hope Marlon find out what’s really up with Rell. I don’t trust either one of them guys. But if I gotta trust one, it’s Marlon. Rell always be on some money hungry type of shit. He stay too thirsty for his own good. Shit, let me make this call.
He reached for his cell.

“Yeah, what?” Marlon said answering on the fifth ring.

“Yo, so I just left our boy spot.”

“What that nigga talking about? Y’all good or what?”

“You right, that guy look a way lot better.”

“I told you. So we back fucking with him, right?”

“We gonna see. I gotta pick you up in the morning so we can check him in rehab. Only you, Rell, and me can check him out. You down or what?”

“Yeah, I’m with it, but considering, you think that letting Rell check him out is a good move?”

“I don’t know, but that’s what Dre wants. He came up with saying that.”

“Speaking of Rell, I ain’t found any dirt on him just yet, so I’m thinking we just ask the nigga and see what he say.”

Dino thought for a minute. “Yeah, but if we do, the nigga might stop doing whatever the fuck he doing or planning. Whatever we gonna do, let’s kick it in the morning before we meet up with Dre. I just pulled up back over at Monique’s crib, and you know how nosy that old bitch can be. Peace.”

* * *

“So what you think we should do about this crazy situation?” Raven asked Benji as they were driving home from the hospital.

“Baby, I don’t know, but we gotta handle it for real—for real.”

“Yeah, I know with J-Rite about to get out of the hospital she gonna want blood. Especially because she thinks your uncle has something to do with her getting carjacked and catching that mysterious case.” Raven didn’t want to say anything about what she and Mario had done and how they were beefing with J-Rite’s ex-man as well, so she let the weight fall totally on Tyrus. Raven also knew that if push came to shove, she would have to ride with a side and strange as it seemed, she was in love with Benji, so she still didn’t know what side.

“Bae, you think you should just tell her?”

“You funny. And you tell me what in the hell I’m gonna say—the nigga that tried to get you killed is my man’s uncle? Let’s all have dinner at my house.”

“Come on now, baby, you ain’t gotta act like that. I was just trying to figure shit out like you.”

“Well, damn, it was some stupid shit to say!” Raven was on edge. Not only was she stressed out from all this beefing, she had been having nightmares about killing that undercover cop, and now J-Rite had flipped out on her. As far as she was concerned, shit couldn’t get any worse.

“Hold the fuck up, Raven. You need to chill out and calm your nerves!” The anger was apparent in his voice as she drove.

Benji had never yelled at Raven, so she was caught totally off guard.
“Excuse me!
Who the hell you think you talking to?” She rolled her eyes with a savage attitude.

“Raven, chill out. And, yeah, I’m talking to you. The fuck you gonna come at me like that. I’m supposed to be your man. You gonna turn on me?”

“Boy, I ain’t turned on you, and if I did, you would fucking know it!”

“What’s that’s supposed to mean?” Benji got defensive.

“You heard me!”

“That shit sound good, but I ain’t my uncle, remember that.”

Raven took this comment as an awful slap in the face. “What you mean by that? I’m confused. Please enlighten me.”

“Look, I ain’t about to argue over this bullshit! I got other things on my mind right now.” Benji hated that he let things get this far.
I should have just shut the fuck up
. “Look, baby, I’m sorry.”

Raven hated when she couldn’t get her point across.
This punk think he just gonna say some shit and it’s supposed to be over. Naw, it ain’t like that.
She swerved, pulling her truck over to the side of the road. “You better get the fuck out now,” she said, reaching for her purse.

Benji knew what was in her purse. He looked at her, then got out. Raven barely let him shut the door before she pulled off. A few seconds later, she was upset and wanted to go back, but her pride wouldn’t let her.