Last Bitch Standing (17 page)

Precious yanked my head out of the toilet again,
and I tried to catch my breath thinking she was gonna
baptize me once more, but instead, as she maintained the
grip on my hair, she opened the stall door and slammed
me against the wall.

"I want you to see my face as I beat yo' ass! Oh, and
check out the pink diamond heart. Yeah, bitch this shit
is where it belongs." Precious barked before taking her
knee and shoving it up my pussy, not once, not twice, not
even three fuckin' times, but over and over again. I felt
like the bitch was giving me a botched abortion, and I
wasn't even pregnant.

"I can't take no more.. .please, stop!" I begged.

"Stop! Bitch, we ain't even started!" she boasted,
smashing the back of my head repeatedly against the
wall. "You ain't so bad when you ain't got Devon
holding me while you beat me wit' some brass knuckles,
huh? Don't go silent on me. The fun just about to start."

My body was halfway numb from pain by the time
Precious hauled me over to the sink. When she swung my
face like it was a baseball bat against the bathroom faucets,
I just knew I was dead. Blood splattered everywhere as my
nose and mouth ripped open. The collision with the sink
also caused my two front teeth to come out. Although I wasn't dead, I no longer wanted to be alive.

"Precious, you win... please stop!" I pleaded as
blood gushed out of my mouth.

"I'ma be honest with you. I am gonna kill you. But
if you take me to my daughter and not a strand of her
hair is out of place, instead of mutilating you while you're
still alive, I'll simply slit your throat and let you watch
yourself bleed to death. You can decide while I'm taking
you to the car.

Precious pushed me down on the floor, wrapped
my hair around her hand and dragged me out of the
bathroom as if I was a bloody ragdoll. I could see the
horror and disbelief on some of the customers' faces
who were in the store, but she didn't give a fuck about
any of them. She kept pulling me down the aisle like this
was her world. When she opened the door and I hit the
pavement, it felt as if the concrete was ripping the skin
from my face.

"Help me!" I called out barely audible because of
the excruciating pain I was in, but it was as if nobody
cared, or maybe they were too damn scared, because
only a crazy motherfucker like Precious could be this
bold. When we got to her car and she was opening the
passenger side door, I heard a car zoom up and stop right
in front of us. The way Precious had me positioned on
the ground I couldn't see shit though.

"Yo, Precious! What the fuck are you doing!" I heard
a male voice yell out.

"Before I murder this bitch, Maya is gonna take me to my daughter... ain't that right, Maya?" Precious smiled
down at me, knowing I didn't have the strength to reply
even if I wanted to.

"I know you're pissed, but this shit right here is crazy.
You're dragging a badly beaten woman out in public. I
know how angry you are; fuck, I'm angry too, but this
ain't the way to get shit done."

As I listened to some man trying to reason with
Precious, I heard a car door open and then shut.

"Genesis, can you please try and reason with her?"

I felt Precious shift forward in one swift movement
as if reaching for something, because of course, with the
hold she had on my hair, when she moved, I moved too.

"Nico, get the fuck away from me! When I spotted
Maya's sneaky ass crossing the street, I shoulda' never
called you and told you where I was, `cause I don't' want
to hear this shit!"

"Yo, I can't believe you took my gun like that! Give
me that shit back!"Precious stepped forward, evidently
steadily holding the heat.

"Don't make me use this on you, because I will."

"Precious, what are you doing? you're smarter than
this."

"Genesis, you need to stay the fuck outta this! You
have no idea the hell this bitch has put me and my family
through. And when I finally made it back to them, she
kidnaps my daughter... again! This sick bitch deserves to
die. Now, both of ya' get the fuck out of my way. I'm
sure somebody is gon' call the police soon, if they haven't already. So I need to go!"

"Precious, Nico explained to me everything that
Maya has done to you and your family, and she deserves
to be punished. But I can't let you kill her."

"Excuse me? I didn't know I asked for your
permission.

"Listen. I was trying to wait for Quentin to get here,
but-"

"Quentin! What the fuck did you call Quentin for?
Quentin ain't got nothing to do wit' this shit! Yo, get
the fuck out of my way, both of you, before I just start
blasting!"

"Precious, that's your sister you're about to kill, and
Quentin Jacobs is both of ya's father. I swear it's true.
When he saw you at that funeral and you told him your
last name-not Mills but Cummings, unlike the first time
when he met you with Mike-he had a feeling, but to
be positive, when I had you meet me for breakfast that
morning, it was to get your DNA so Quentin could have
it compared to his."

"So what? You're a forensic scientist now? I can
catch you on an episode of CSI!Nigga, get the fuck outta
here with that bullshit!"

"It ain't bullshit, Precious. Maya is your sister."

"Let's say for argument sake you are telling the
truth... so fuckin' what! I wouldn't give a damn if she
came out my own mother's pussy and we were full blood
sisters! This ho gotta go!"

"I'm not gonna let you spend the rest of your life in jail because of Maya. You have a fuckin' daughter to live
for! You've always been so hard headed and stubborn.
Is this piece of shit really worth your life without your
daughter in it? Especially since we got the proof we
need to send her to jail. I've already been in contact with
Detective Moore. He's hungry to lock her ass up, and I
told him I have the evidence he needs to do it," Nico
continued to try and plead his case.

I wasn't sure what distressed me more; learning
that I had a father I knew nothing about, or a sister I
despised. Either way, my life was completely fucked, or
over. Because, if Precious spared my life, I would still
spend the majority of it locked up in a cage, or she could
kill me, and honestly at this point, that sounded like a
better alternative.

"Precious, Nico is right. You have everything to live
for and nothing to gain if you kill Maya. Give Nico the
gun so we can go find your daughter. Isn't that what it's
really about, being reunited with your daughter? Don't
let your emotions cause you to make a bad decision that
you'll have to pay the consequences for, for the rest of
your life."

Whoever the nigga, Genesis was, he had a profound
effect on Precious, because she did hand the gun over to
Nico, and right then, I heard what sounded like an explosion.

"What the fuck!" Precious walked a few feet forward,
still dragging my ass. I guess when she put the gun down,
that didn't include putting me down too.

"Some truck and a car just crashed into each other. I can't see how anybody could have survived that shit!"
Genesis said, as I assumed he had the best view of the
accident. "I'ma go check and see if anybody is alive and
needs some help."

"Precious, can I trust you won't go do no crazy shit
to Maya if I go see if I can be of any help to Genesis?"

"Nico, go head. I'm not gonna do nothing. You and
Genesis made your point. I'm positive Maya is gonna tell
me where my daughter is," she said, yanking my head.
And then once we know Aaliyah's safe, we can toss
Maya's ass over to the police."

"Night, don't fuck around and do nothing stupid."

"I won't. Plus, Supreme should be here any minute
too. I had left him a message letting him know I spotted
Maya, and where I was at. See, I think that's him pulling
up now"

"Cool. I'ma check to see what's going on with the
accident, and I'll be back."

With the fucked up luck I had today, I would deal
with it all if it meant that Supreme wouldn't see me
like this. The idea that the last image of me inscribed
in Supreme's mind was of my cut up mouth and face,
missing teeth, and covered in blood, made me want to get
a hold of Nico's gun and end it all.

"What is Supreme doing? What is taking him so
long to come over here?" I heard Precious mumble to
herself out loud. "Genesis, did you see Supreme?"

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

"He's over there by the where the accident was."

"Oh, he's trying to help. That must mean there were
some survivors."

"Precious, come with me for a minute."

"Hellooooo... Genesis.. .1 have to stay here and
watch Maya, remember."

"Here comes Nico. He'll make sure Maya doesn't go
anywhere until the cops come arrest her. Nico, I was just
telling Precious that you'll guard Maya while she comes
with me."

"That's right. Go with Genesis. I got Maya."

"Ya' worry too much. I told you I wasn't gonna kill
Maya. She still has to tell us where Aaliyah is. But if ya'
feel better letting Nico play watchdog, then so be it. I
wanna go talk to Supreme anyway."

When Precious unleashed my hair from her grasp,
my head hit the pavement so hard that my once fading
headache was back. I managed to lift my head up and
caught a glimpse of lights flashing and sirens roaring
from the ambulances that were on the scene. Precious
was completely out of my view, and it was Nico who was
now beside me.

"Thank you for not letting Precious kill me."

"Don't thank me yet," he said, pulling out his gun
and sticking the barrel to my head. "Do you know who
was in one of those cars that crashed? Aaliyah! And so
help me, if she dies, I promise you, I will kill you myself."

After Nico's warning, a piercing scream filled the
air, and I knew it was the cries from my sister... Precious.

"My baby can't die! Supreme, do something!" I screamed,
becoming hysterical as we entered the emergency room.

"We're going to need you to wait here," the
paramedics ordered as they rushed Aaliyah in.

"Precious, she'll pull through," Supreme said, trying
to sound encouraging, but it wasn't working.

"This can't be happening. When will this hell we're
living in end?" I wanted to know as my hands were
shaking and my voice cracked.

"Your daughter doesn't have any medical conditions
or allergies, correct?" the ER nurse asked.

"No, I already told the paramedics that on the ride
over in the ambulance."

"I understand, sir. I was just checking, taking every precaution."

"How is she?" Nico asked frantically, walking in
with Genesis.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" Supreme barked,
making it clear that Nico's presence was not wanted.

"Supreme, please! Nico is concerned, just like
Genesis.

"Mr. and Mrs. Mills," we heard the doctor call out.

"Yes! How is our daughter? Is she going to be okay?"

"I'm Dr. Katz. We're going to do everything we can
to save your daughter. She's being prepped for surgery as
we speak."

"Are you saying she might die? Oh God, no!" My
knees buckled underneath me, and I would've hit the
floor if Supreme hadn't been there to hold me up.

"Excuse me, I have to go to your daughter," Dr.
Katz told us, rushing off and leaving me in a state of
shock.

"Precious, what did the doctor say?" Nico asked,
coming near Supreme and I.

"She's about to go into surgery. My baby can't die...
she just can't!" My voice sounded almost tranquil. I let
go of Supreme's hand and went to sit down. I refused
to believe that my daughter would die. If she did, then
somebody should walk up to me right now and kill me
too.

This was all too much. Nothing made any sense.
Right when I was about to kill Maya, I learned that she
is supposedly my sister, and that Quentin Carter might be our father. Then some chick who was on her way to
pick Maya up gets in a horrible accident that kills her
and leaves my daughter barely holding on to her life.
Everything that could go wrong had, and now it seemed
to be getting worse. This wasn't the happy ending I had
envisioned. It was actually more horrible than anything I
could've imagined.

"I know that feeling you have right now, but you
have to fight against giving into it," I heard Genesis say
as he placed his hand on my shoulder.

"How do you do that? Tell me, please, because it
hurts more than anything I could've ever imagined."

"When Talisa died, I knew my son's chances of
surviving were slim to none, but I stayed in prayer and
kept the faith," Genesis divulged as he bent down in
front of me and placed my hands in his. "You have to
do the same. Aaliyah needs you to be strong, and so does
your husband. Because trust me when I tell you, he may
not admit it, but the pain he's in has him ready to take out
this entire hospital if they don't save his daughter's life."