"But I didn’t do anything!" she screamed. "This has been humiliating enough."
The second officer walked over to Kelsa and started reading her her rights.
"Shut the fuck up!" Kelsa snapped at the officer.
The other officer began reading Persha hers.
"Why am I being arrested? I didn’t do anything," Persha went on.
"Yes you did, you skank bitch. Tell them how I caught you in my house fucking my husband! You didn’t do anything, huh?" Kelsa screamed as she was being escorted to a patrol car.
"Ma’am, we need you to be quiet," the arresting officer told her. "We’ll take care of this downtown. Are you the registered owner of that pistol?"
Kelsa shook her head and replied. "It’s my husband’s gun," she said just before they pushed her head down to let her into the back of the patrol car.
Six hours later, Persha was still waiting in the holding cell with the borrowed raincoat on. When the jail guard came to the cell, she looked in and called out, "Persha Townsend!"
Persha jumped up. "Yes! That’s me!"
"You made bail. C’mon."
Persha followed closely behind the jail guard. As she walked, she tried to avoid making eye contact with Kelsa when they approached the cell she was being held in.
"I can’t believe that bitch is leaving before me," Kelsa said.
"I am, thanks to your husband!" Persha teased.
The guard looked back. "Don’t start nothing, it won’t be nothing. We can turn around you know. You’re not out of here until the papers are signed," she threatened.
When Persha arrived in the waiting room, she was so happy to see Cricket and Kori that she nearly ran and jumped into their arms.
"Gurl! Where are your clothes?" was the first thing Kori asked. "They really make you strip when you get locked up, huh? I thought they only did that shit on TV."
Cricket didn’t say anything.
"No, silly, the police let me borrow this," Persha answered.
"Well, where are your clothes?" Kori asked again.
"It’s such a long story; I don’t know where to start. There’s really no point in even going over it again," Persha said as they proceeded to sign the required papers needed for her to be released. They then headed out of the jail.
Outside in the parking lot, Persha wanted to take in all the fresh air her lungs could hold. After nearly 24 hours in jail, she was glad to be free again.
"So what did they charge you with?" Cricket asked, finally breakin her silence.
"Indecency," Persha replied. "I have to go to court and everything. I just want to put this mess behind me."
Persha climbed into the back seat of Cricket’s car, but she had no idea where to tell them to take her. She still had no place to go, and since they’d used the apartment money for bail, she was sure she’d be out on the streets.
"Where’s your car?" Cricket asked.
"At Clarke’s house," Persha answered. "So are my keys, my purse, my clothes and everything else I own."
She didn’t have time to beat around the bush. She had no idea where Clarke had gone and she was determined to get back on her feet before catching up with him again.
The girls went to Kori’s where she loaned Persha some clothes to put on. They then headed out to put a decent meal in Persha’s belly. During this time, Persha told her friends how Kelsa had caught her and Clarke in a compromising position. She told them that if the officer hadn’t shown up when he did, she was sure she would’ve been dead. Persha relived the horrible incident over and over again all the way to the restaurant as both Kori and Cricket had their share of questions.
Persha was sitting in Cheddars restaurant located off Beltway 8 with Kori and Cricket wearing a borrowed dress that she never even liked when Kori wore it. Not to her surprise, Kori and Chricket were still full of questions.
"Is she still in jail?" Cricket asked.
"She was when y’all came to get me. I don’t know about now," Persha answered.
"Well, I think we should go get your things from over there. Ain’t no telling what she’ll do with your stuff," Cricket suggested.
"That story is just off the hook! I can’t believe he went out like that!" Kori said. "And what kind of man just runs out and leaves a sistah hanging like that?"
"Well, I can’t believe she came after me with a gun!" Persha stated as the reality of the situation seemed to just sink in. "I could’ve died!" she mumbled quietly under her breath.
"Yes, we tried to tell you that was a very dangerous situation you put yourself in," Cricket said, saying I told you so without really saying it. "Well, I’m just glad that even though it nearly cost you your life, you’ve decided to leave that sewer rat alone."
When Persha didn’t respond, Kori said, "Don’t judge her, Cricket." For the rest of the meal, conversation was limited to whatever was necessary to get through the evening.
After eating, the three rode out to Clarke and Kelsa’s house in hopes of retrieving Persha‘s belongings.
"You think anyone’s home?" Cricket asked as the sat parked outside of the house.
"Looks kind of dark," Persha said, "but I really need my stuff. My purse, keys, and clothes are in there. I need to get them now because there is no way I’m going to deal with her again."
Kori looked at the house. "Sure is a nice house. What does she do anyway?"
"She’s an RN. She works the overnight shift and then takes a class in the mornings."
Cricket, looked at Persha through the rear-view mirror. "So what are we going to do? I really don’t feel like catching a case over some loser. And if she’s packing, I really don’t want to be bothered. Bullets don’t have any names on them, and they don’t care who they hit."
"She has to get her stuff, Cricket!" Kori snapped.
"Yeah, well, she should’ve thought about that before she started disrespecting that woman’s house like that."
"What about him? He brought her there? How come all your comments are always geared at Persha? It takes two you know!"
"Yeah, but I don’t give a rat’s ass about him. I know a loser when I see one. I care about Persha. Where is his punk-ass now? And the way he left her, he could’ve driven down the street to pick her up. He knew her ass was out there naked, but he only cared about himself. Damn coward."
"Can we stop this please?" Persha screamed.
A few seconds later, Kori spoke up. "I’ll go up to the door first and try to talk to her. When it’s cool, I’ll come back and get you if necessary, or I’ll just see if she’ll give your things to me."
Persha and Cricket watched as Kori strolled up the walkway like she’d been invited. At the door she stopped and tried to look in a window. She pushed the doorbell, then turned and waved Persha up.
"Gurl, you better not go up to that door," Cricket warned her. "If that woman comes running out here with her pistol, I’m leaving both of you."
Kori came back to the car. "No one’s home and the door isn’t locked because I can see where it’s not completely pulled closed. I think we should go in and get your stuff before one of them comes back."
Persha looked at Cricket for guidance. She hesitated at first.
"You’re on your own," Cricket said, looking around the neighborhood.
Persha opened the car door and took a deep breath before following Kori up to the door. They rang the doorbell again, and when no one answered, Persha pushed the door open.
"Kelsa? Clarke?" she said as she stepped inside. "Is anyone here?"
Still, no one answer. Reaching for the switch near the door, Persha turned on the dimmer and immediately her eyes focused on the smoldering fireplace. Her heart started racing.
"No!" Persha screamed.
Rushing from her look-out spot at the door, Kori walked into the house. "Shit! What’s wrong? You scared me!"
"Look!" She pointed to the fireplace that was still smoking.
"At what?" Kori moved in closer.
"That bitch burned all my clothes! My new underwear, the outfits I bought. I don’t believe this shit." Persha stood there as she could identify some of her half burned up articles.
"Oh snap! Yup, gurl! Ooo wee was that silk!" Kori bent forward for a closer look into the fireplace. "It’s crispy now. Damn, she wasn’t playing, huh?"
"Shit! Kori, I’m about to run up to the room to see if, by chance, there’s anything left of mine that she didn’t roast. Stay here. I’ll be right back," Persha said as she headed up to the room.
Once Persha got up to the room, she noticed that the bed had been stripped of the sheets. The vase she used the bathroom in was knocked off the table and clothes were strewn all over the room. Kelsa had found her things, no doubt about it, because all she saw was clothes that belonged to Clarke. And most of those were cut into pieces. Looking around the room, she could tell, that Kelsa had gone mad.
Persha walked back down the stairs, to meet Kori.
"All my stuff is gone! What the hell am I going to do?"
"What about your purse or your keys?" Kori asked.
"Gone! Everything was gone from the bed."
"Did you check the trash cans?"
Shaking her head, Persha walked toward the kitchen. She couldn’t believe she was once again without any clothes.
"Damn, this bitch hooked this house up. It’s nice with all these plants," Persha heard Kori say.
"Ooo! Here’s the stuff from my purse!" She reached into the trash can. Persha retrieved her purse, wallet, and even her car keys. When she walked back into the living room, Kori was looking at several plants.
"Damn she got good taste."
"Hhmmmm." Persha looked around the house. "Let’s get the hell out of here. At least that fool didn’t burn my purse up."
As they made it to the car, another car pulled into the driveway.
"Wait!" Kelsa jumped out of the car screaming.
Before Persha could even get her door closed completely, Cricket had already taken off down the street.
"Shit, I’m not about to get shot over that loser. You need to come back for your car later," Cricket said, as she careened around the corner.
Persha’s heart started racing as she turned and looked out the back window. It nearly stopped when she saw Kelsa in the middle of the street. She was about to duck when she saw Kelsa waving her hands, until she realized they were empty.
"Gurl if this ain’t a wake up call, then I don’t know what to say about you," Cricket said, shaking he head. "And if you still love that fool, then all I have to say is I hope God never gives me that kind of love, because I don’t need this type of shit in my life."
"Amen to that!" Kori said.
Persha didn’t say a word. She just rode in silence thinking about Clarke, as they dropped Kori off at her house and then headed to Cricket’s, where Persha would stay until she could get back on her feet.
Persha had grown sick and tired of being in Cricket’s aunt’s house. All off those damn cats were driving her crazy. Even Persha’s room wreaked with a strong feline odor. It didn’t take long for her to start counting down the days to her insurance settlement.
The house was always dark and gloomy. Regardless of how loud Persha played the radio, she still heard the various machines the old woman was hooked up to, and there was never any food. Well, there was always pounds and pound of various types of cat food, but no human food.
She was grateful for the place to stay, but honestly, it was depressing. Most of the times Cricket would whisper everything she said, and the volume on the phone was always kept just above a whisper.
There were so many medicine bottles on the kitchen counter, that Persha hated going in there. And everywhere she went, she could count on at least five or six cats following behind her. They’d rub up against her ankles. She’d even caught a couple in her bed. And when they were in heat, there was no peace in the house. Everything, what little she owned, was always covered with cat hair.
There was a large garden in the back yard and it may have once been lovely, but now, it was just swarming with cats and kittens. Persha never complained because she knew the emotional task Cricket was facing. For the most part, she tried to spend as little time in the house as possible.
For the next few weeks, Persha’s calls to Clarke went unanswered. Every time she called his office, he was either out, or too busy to take her call. Her heart ached for him. She knew they’d be able to work things out. She wondered where he was staying and what he was doing with himself.
In a couple of her weakest moments, she’d even driven by the house when she knew Kelsa would be at work to make sure she didn’t see his car. Then when it was obvious it could’ve still been in the shop, she started calling. She’d use star 67 to block her number and hoped that he’d pick up the phone.
When none of that worked, she started feeling sick. She knew for sure this was way beyond her control. The heart wanted what
the heart wanted.
Persha still loved him, and she wanted him back. She didn’t dare say anything to Cricket about it, but she had already made up her mind, she’d get him back at any cost. They were meant to be.
She had to find Clarke and get out of that house. There was just no way she could survive much longer. Most mornings when she got up out of bed, she’d feel light headed and her stomach was always weak.
At one point she’d even considered taking nosy Brenda up on her offer to spend a few days in a normal setting. But she knew better than that. Friday afternoon, she sat at her desk and realized all she had to do was pull out the card Clarke had given her and go up to his job. But when she found it, there was no address printed on the damn thing. Feeling defeated, she took her paycheck and walked a few blocks to the bank to make a deposit and to keep a few dollars for her Friday night evening with her girls.
The three of them, her, Cricket and Kori, were meeting for happy hour. They agreed to meet at Chuy’s on Richmond, and since she arrived first, she opted for a table on the patio and waited for the girls to arrive. Kori arrived first and she and Persha sat out on the patio and waited for Cricket.
"So, what’s it like living among the cats?" Kori joked.
"I’m about to lose it!" Persha replied. "I can’t take it much longer. I really can’t. I’m starting to get sick all over again."