Hell House (16 page)

Jaylin didn't say a word, but I heard him sigh.

“Oh. My, God!” She yelled. “What in the fuck is it?”

By now, everybody was up.

“Jada, this is a bunch of bullshit,” Jaylin said, tossing his covers aside in anger. “What the fuck is your problem?”

“I don't know yet, but somethin' is in my damn bed!”

Since Roc was lying next to her, he shot out of the bed and turned on the light. Jada snatched the covers off of her, and to no surprise to me, there was a black rat snake slithering up the side of her fat, trembling leg.

She screamed at the top of her lungs and wiggled her legs around, trying to shake the snake off. Everybody else jumped back and no one seemed eager to get it. Even Prince had come into the room, but he stood far away by the doorway, telling others to “get that thing.”

“Jaaaaylin!” Jada yelled. “Please get it, would you?”

Jaylin did not move. Sylvia was behind him standing on the bed, and Roc kept staring at the snake, carefully watching its every move. Jada was hysterical. She started crying, and when she rolled on the floor, so did the snake. She hopped up and busted out of the door so quickly that if you blinked, you missed her.

“Where did it go?” Sylvia asked, shaking like a leaf.

“It went underneath Roc's bed,” Jaylin said. “Man, go get that thing and get it out of here.”

Roc turned to Jaylin with a twisted face. “Muthafucka, are you crazy? I'm not fuckin' with that thing. Did you see how big it was?”

“I'm not fuckin' with it either,” Prince said. “Somebody needs to call that white boy, Jeff, to see if he'll come get it out of here. Until then, my ass is not sleepin' in this bedroom.”

They all were cowards. I was surprised, but what should I have expected from a bunch of pretty boys who knew nothing about the wilderness. A rat snake wasn't poisonous. It was just as afraid of them, as they were of it.

I had to be the brave one here, so I got on the floor and shooed the snake from underneath the bed with my pillow. When it slithered out, I grabbed it close to the head and picked it up. Jaylin and Roc looked at me as if I were crazy.

“Now we can all sleep tight,” I said, carrying the snake through the house so I could put it in the backyard where I had found it earlier. Jada stood shaking in the kitchen. I couldn't resist stopping to say a few words to her. I used the snake as ammunition while holding its head close to her face.

“The next time you say anything else inappropriate to me, or put your hands on me, I'm going to shove this thing up your ass. As your friend Jaylin would say, you've been warned.”

Jada was a bunch of mouth and she didn't have two words to say to me with the snake still in my hand. She rushed toward the front of the house, trying to get as far away from me as she could. I took the snake out back, and when I let it go, it slithered away. It was what I needed to make my point. From here on out, I was positive that Jada would think twice before going there with me again. I was the type of chick who didn't play, and this was a lesson learned for everyone inside the house.

It was another sleepless night for me. There was no way I could rest well, after that snake being in the house. I didn't get down with shit like that, and night after night, I kept thinking that something was crawling on me. Jada had called on the wrong person for help, and I was glad she handled that by falling on the floor. Eventually, I probably would've dealt with it, but when Chase picked that thing up without hesitating, it messed me up. She was brave, and I didn't see her as being that kind of woman.

The only reason it mattered was because the fellas and I were so sure that we could knock the women out of this house in a one-two-three punch. I wasn't so sure about that now; Chase had a courageous side to her that said she could handle anything. Three days later, we sat outside eating breakfast and contemplating our next move.

“I'm tellin' y'all she ain't goin' down like pooky and them,” Roc said playfully in a whisper. “Did you see the way she manhandled that thing the other night?”

“I saw it,” Prince said. “And I also saw yo scary punk ass. Nigga, I thought you had some balls.”

“I got the amount that I need right here, so silence yourself,” Roc said, grabbing himself down below. “If she hadn't rushed by
me to go get it, I was on my way to pull that mutha from underneath my bed.”

Prince didn't believe Roc and neither did I. “You were looking pretty scared to me, too,” I said, adding my two cents. “I guess that was something the streets didn't teach you.”

“Both of you niggas better lay off. Y'all were about to get ghost, and Jada was askin' for your help, Jaylin, not mine.”

“Jada needed to be taught a lesson and she got a big one that night. But on another note, I doubt that she'll be starting shit with Chase again. The strategy was to keep them at each other, but for the last few days, I see things dying down a bit.”

“It has been,” Roc agreed. “But when all is said and done, Chase is gangsta. She ain't got it all upstairs, for real.”

“Gangsta and gutter,” Prince added. “That bitch got it, but she's psycho.”

We all agreed and Roc continued on. “I've been playin' her off, hopin' that she'll get tired of my rejection and get the fuck out of here. You've been ignorin' her, and her and Prince have no connection whatsoever. I don't understand why she's still here. One hundred G's ain't really that much money to brag about. She told me that bein' the last person standin' wasn't important. If it ain't, what's keepin' her here?”

“You,” I said. “Maybe me, too, but I say make a move on it. Work your magic and pretend as if you're falling for her. Then, tell her it's imperative that she leaves.”

“Why me?” Roc asked. “You say make a move, but what kind of move? How far do you fools expect me to go?”

“All the way,” Prince said. “She may be a snake-handler, but all women got some kind of weakness. Break her ass down 'cause we need to start now in gettin' them out of the way. Then, I can work on y'all.”

“That ain't gon' happen, Prince, so you can erase that from your head,” I said and then looked at Roc. “You need to go all the way with her. What's the hold up anyway? As good as that ass was looking the other day you should've knocked that pussy out of the box.”

“I'm tryin' to hold back, but why ain't you hittin' it? You know what's up with me and you may have better luck than I do. She ridin' yo nuts, too.”

“Not like she's riding yours, and let's not forget that you had that pussy in your hands. I didn't. But whatever it takes, I'm with it. Whoever gets there first, so be it. But whichever one of us do go there, we need to work fast on getting her out of here. She's the biggest challenge for us.”

“Fasho,” Roc said. “What about Sylvia?”

“Fuck Sylvia. I see her as the weakest link. She's been feeling guilty about going through my things, and I can see her weakening by the day. She won't last. When I get done with her, she'll be walking real soon.”

“Jada?” Prince said.

“We need Jada to cook for us.” Roc laughed. “She'll be the last to go.”

We all bumped fists and headed to the court to play a game of basketball.

Later that day, I sat in the living room watching TV by myself. The others were all outside chilling somewhere, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint what they were doing. Nobody wanted to get into politics with me, so I was tuned into
The Ed Show
, trying to see what was up. Those sly-ass Republicans were trying to make all kinds of excuses for the new voter suppression laws and intimidation that had gone on before and after the election. They weren't willing to compromise with the President on shit, and I
was listening to an elderly woman speak about how she had been voting for years, but had found it difficult to do. As I was tuned in, Sylvia came over to the couch with her swimming suit on and a towel was wrapped around her. She was shivering.

“Why is it always so cold in here?” she asked.

All I did was shrug. First, because I was interested in what the lady on TV was saying. Also, I was still upset with Sylvia for going through my things. Then there was a little thing called strategy. I had to play her like this, if I wanted her to leave.

“Are you not speaking to me anymore?” she questioned.

“Can't you see I'm busy watching TV?”

“Yes, but watching TV or not, you still haven't said much to me. I don't know what else you want me to say. I've already apologized to you, Jaylin, so stop being so ridiculous about this.”

“Apology not accepted because you had no business going through my shit. Why would you do that anyway? That was some bold mess, baby. Even the lady in my life don't get down like that.”

She sighed and raked her fingers through her braids. “I… I was just looking for something. Wanted to see if—”

I cocked my head back in disbelief that she was making excuses. “Looking for what? In my pockets? What could you be looking for in a man's pockets? What you're saying makes no sense to me, and what you really need to do is move away from me. Keep your distance for the remainder of your stay. I'll be good with that. Trust and believe.”

Sylvia sucked her teeth and glared at me. “I should've known that coming here was a big mistake. Thought it would do me some good, but being here has been even more messed up. It was nice knowing you, Jaylin. I'm out of here and good riddance.”

Sylvia ranted as she walked away and headed for the bedroom. She moved so fast that I'm sure she didn't see the wicked grin on
my face. Yes, I felt a little bad about the shit, but this was serious business; no time for real pleasure. Plus, I was really ticked about what she had done. I didn't trust her not one bit, so I was glad she was leaving. So glad that I was eager to go outside to tell Roc and Prince the good news. I had done my part. Now, it was time for them to step up and do theirs.

Before going outside, I went to the bedroom to make sure Sylvia was packing. She was. She looked mad as hell, but I had seen many upset women in my lifetime. That didn't faze me one bit, unless it was Nokea. Sometimes, Scorpio.

“You are such a loser,” she said, throwing a pair of shoes in her suitcase. “I'm so glad that I didn't give myself to you the other night and what a big mistake that would've been.”

“The feeling is mutual,” I said, pretending to look for something in the closet. “Just stop the griping and hurry up, get your shit and go.”

“You don't have to tell me twice. When all is said and done, you're the one who is going to get screwed. I tried to spare you, but you're so darn blind that you don't even realize you're being set up. And let's not forget about how arrogant you are. You think you know it all, but the truth is, you don't know jack.”

She had my attention. I swung around and looked at her. “What in the hell are you talking about? Set up how?”

“I'm sure you would like to know!” She picked up one piece of her luggage and carried it into the bedroom. I followed, and when she tried to walk by me, I grabbed her arm.

“If you know something, you need to tell me. Now,” I demanded.

“I'm not telling you anything. Not after the way you treated me. Are you serious?”

Sylvia tried to get away from my grip, but I squeezed tighter on her arm. “I need to know right now what's up. Maybe I did
go overboard with what I said to you, but that was because—”

“Because you're an asshole. Now, let my arm go, Jaylin, before I call someone in here and have you arrested for harassing me.”

Her words upset me. I frowned and loosened my grip on her arm. “Ain't nobody harassing you. All I want to know is what in the hell it is that you're talking about?”

She folded her arms in front of her. “If you want to know, then apologize to me.”

“For what? I said maybe I went overboard, didn't I?”

Her hand moved to her hip and her neck rolled. “That is not an apology and you know it. Is it that hard for you to say you're sorry to someone, especially when you know you're wrong?”

“You haven't convinced me that I'm wrong yet, have you?”

Sylvia swallowed and turned away from me. I could tell she knew something, but she was reluctant to say what it was. My blood was boiling by the minute. I was seconds away from doing something I really didn't want to do.

“Tell me,
baby
,” I said, softening my tone and pleading with her in a calm manner. “Please tell me. If something ain't right here, I need to know. Don't you want me to know?”

She turned around to face me. “I didn't want you and Roc to get into a fight because I knew it would be bad. I really wanted you to stay in this house, and I was afraid that if the two of you got into a fistfight, Jeff would kick you out. I like you, Jaylin, and—”