Читать книгу Ghetto Girls IV - Anthony Whyte - Страница 9

CHAPTER 4

They stood outside the hospital together, Josephine’s lips lazily clinging to a cigarette while peeking beneath her Gucci frames. Deedee’s wary eyes were hidden behind shades styled by Dolce and Gabanna. She was watching for any signs of her uncle’s return. Her mind was on Coco,. Deedee shifted her weight from one hip to the next. She glanced at the bodyguard sitting and waiting for any word from her uncle. Eric had instructed him to stay with the girls.

“Hey Deedee. Eric’s on his way,” he shouted after closing his cellphone.

“Thanks Big C,” Deedee said perking up.

“It’s about time them cops let him go,” Josephine said, inhaling so hard on the cigarette that her veins were bulging.

Deedee turned to look at her and then back to the busy early morning traffic of the city street. A black stretch rolled to a stop and the rear window came down.

“Hi Dee.”

“Sophia! Oh my. Where did you come from?” Deedee smiled.

Josephine smiled and her heart lifted when she saw Eric exiting the limousine. She smiled sheepishly at Eric and made a weak attempt at hugging him. His response seemed force and uncomfortable. Quickly, he dashed by her outstretched arms and hurried over to where Deedee stood flabbergasted. He hugged his niece and they walked closer to the limo. Josephine felt the rejection and made a promise to check him on his behavior later when they were in private.

She strolled slowly behind them, caught up in her thoughts. An internal alarm was triggered when she recognized that Sophia had traveled with him in the limo. Josephine quickened her pace and quickly caught up with Deedee and Eric as a jolt of jealousy coursed through her. Josephine stood back as they spoke.

“Hi uncle,” Dee said.

“Dee, are you okay? Sorry to leave you waiting.”

“It’s okay. I’m alright.”

“Heard anything yet?”

“They told us only family members could see her. I don’t know what’s up. They refused to talk to us. So we called her mother and I don’t know what happened,”

“You don’t know but that woman is likely drunk or cracked-out or both,” Josephine said, cutting Deedee off.

“Maybe, we don’t know for sure,” Deedee added.

“I called her and she sounded like something was up. She was sounding quite suspect to me,” Josephine said.

After speaking with the driver, Sophia got out of the stretch and joined them. Deedee gave her a long embrace and Josephine seemed confused as to whether to join them. Finally she entered the hug-fest. Her reluctance drew Eric’s attention.

After a few nervous heartbeats, the loud siren of an ambulance broke up their embrace.

Sophia broke free. She was tearing when she said, “I think I can get some information on her. What’s her full name?” she asked remembering that working with the D.A. had given her certain privileges.

“Coco Harvey,” Josephine spat, thinking about how Eric had spurned her.

“You guys stay in the lounge. Let me go check on her,” Sophia said and walked away.

They followed her into the hospital. Both girls sat and Eric continued standing for a moment, then he went after Sophia.

“Can I go with you as your assistant or something?”

“Something? No, I’ll do just fine,” Sophia said and left Eric standing in awe.

He watched her curves. Eric was still enchanted by Sophia’s moves. He smiled, shaking his head, and walked back to the waiting area. The look on his niece’s face brought him back to the reality of it all. He sat next to Deedee with his arm about her shoulder, completely ignoring the green-eyed glare Josephine wore. She quietly seethed.

Josephine stood with as much movement as possible and sashayed over to the vending machine. She bent over. In tight Prada jeans and Manolo four-inch heels, the roundness of her ass was on display. She checked her wallet and with an exaggerated swing of her hips, Josephine slowly strutted back to where Eric sat.

“Do yer have chinge fer a ten spot?” Josephine smiled with a mock southern drawl.

Eric reached into his pocket and fished out a couple dollars and some change. Josephine allowed the quarters to fall in his lap. She grabbed his crotch while retrieving them. All the time Deedee pretended to be asleep in her uncle’s arm.

“Do you want something from the machine?” Josephine smiled.

“Nah, I’m good,” Eric lazily replied.

“I’ll get you something that you won’t be able to resist.”

He eyed Josephine, who strutted back to the vending machine. She selected sweet and sour candy and a chocolate bar. He watched her sucking on the chocolate bar. She tossed him the candy.

“This is what I want to do to you,” she said.

Eric was in a daze between sleep and exhaustion. He didn’t make an attempt to catch the candy and the packet fell to the floor.

“Oops…my bad,” Josephine said and raced over. In retrieving the candy she rubbed Eric’s crotch and sat in his lap.

So involved was she in caressing Eric’s face, no one saw Sophia walk into the waiting area. She walked over to where they were.

“Alright, I hate to break up this nice family setting but I’ve got to get to work,” Sophia said after waiting a couple of stressful beats.

Eric jumped up so quickly Josephine almost fell from his lap. Deedee opened her eyes, hoping for the best.

“What’s going on?” Deedee asked. “Did you see her?”

“No, but I spoke in length to the doctor caring for her.”

“Really, what did he say?” Josephine asked.

“Well, let’s see, the doctor’s name is and she’s very capable dealing with trauma cases such as Coco’s. The best possible news is Coco isn’t dead. The doctor thinks she’s been through the worse but she has ways to go before making a complete recovery.”

A collective sigh of relief was released. Sophia looked at the group and waited as they digested everything she had to say.

“Are there any bad news?” Josephine asked sheepishly

“I’m not a medical expert so I’m gonna try to repeat what the doctor told me. Ah… because of the trauma directly to her head there was an increase of cerebrospinal fluid pressure by the ventricles of her brain—”

“I don’t understand,” Josephine said impatiently.

“Yeah, what does all this mean?” Deedee asked.

Sophia paused and her tears came. She dried her eyes with a tissue before she continued.

“Coco can’t see right now. She’s blind,” she said.

The air seemed to have been swept away with the wail from Deedee’s lips.

“No-o-o…” she moaned as if in pain. She appeared faint.

Eric looked confused. He couldn’t believe what was coming out of Sophia’s mouth.

“Are you sure…are you for sure…?” he asked looking dumbfounded.

“I’m sure I’m repeating exactly what the doctor told me,” Sophia said with her eyebrow raised. “She will pull through, but she’s still a long way off.”

“What are her chances to recover and see again?” Josephine asked.

“I don’t really know, Josephine. But you guys can pray and start visiting her as soon as she comes out of intensive care. They have to run some tests on her to determine exactly what’s going on inside her brain. Her recovery will be up to Coco,” Sophia said.

Deedee was crying and Josephine hugged her. “Coco is tough, she’ll get through this. When the going gets rough, the tough gets going,” Josephine said, trying to sound confident.

“I guess they will contact us…”

“I gave them my cell and office numbers. They’ll call as soon as changes develop and I’ll pass the news on to you guys. There is a question about her mother’s whereabouts.”

“Yeah, we called her at home because the nurse told us to let her know Coco was in the hospital and she had to come down and sign papers,” Deedee said.

“And what happened?” Sophia asked.

“I spoke to her and… don’t know. Maybe she was high or sump’n,” Josephine said. “I called back and the phone was either busy or off the hook.”

“Coco and her mother are still living uptown, right?” Sophia asked.

“Yep, in the same Malcolm X projects,” Josephine said.

“Let’s at least make an attempt to contact her mother in person,” Sophia suggested. “I’ll have to call my office to let them know I’ll be delayed, but I think I can spare the time.”

They walked out the hospital. The news wasn’t all bad, Deedee thought, holding Sophia’s arm. Eric had his arm around his niece. Josephine walked alone for a moment then she held onto Deedee’s arm. The girls and Eric were exhausted but hopes were raised. Sophia led the way to the waiting limousine dialing on her Blackberry.

“Uptown, ah, one hundred and tenth street and Lenox, please,” Sophia said hanging up and they were all seated inside the limousine.

After the short ride, they entered the building and stood in the lobby waiting for the elevator. There were no other residents standing around. Eric, Sophia, Deedee and Josephine stood there pressing buttons on the elevator door for a couple of minutes.

“The elevator is out of order,” someone said going by.

“I should’ve known better. Coco always says it’s never working. Let’s take the stairs,” Josephine said.

“Lead the way,” Eric said, holding Sophia and Deedee.

Josephine went in front and the others followed her to the stairwell.

“The apartment is on the third floor,” she said, climbing the stairs.

“Pew, this place stinks,” Sophia said, holding her nose.

“Watch out for the gigantic rats,” Josephine cautioned.

“Oh please, Josephine is over exaggerating things,” Deedee deadpanned.

“I think she’s right, Dee. I just saw a big one ran back there on the second floor,” Eric said and Sophia shrieked. She wound up in Eric’s arm. Still scared of rats, Eric thought and smiled. Sophia hugged him all the way up the stairs.

On the third floor, Josephine found the door and knocked on it while the others waited. She rang the doorbell and strutted back and forth impatiently. Josephine eyed Eric’s closeness with Sophia and Deedee. She tried not to mind. Josephine comforted herself with the thought of she and Eric being together real soon.

There was no answer. The others were about to give up and get out of the hallway. Josephine had other ideas. She took her heels off and used them to bang loudly on the door.

“C’mon, Jo,” Eric said. “She might not be—”

“Listen, someone’s up.”

The rumblings from inside grew louder. It sounded like the person was dragging their feet in the direction of the door.

“Who da fuck is at my door this early? Its Saturday. Can a tired bitch sleep in? If it’s the Jehovah Witness people, I done took some magazines…”

The door opened and Ms. Harvey stood wide eyed with surprise. Her lips were ashy and dry. Her disheveled appearance was a shock to all. Deedee jumped with surprise at the state of Coco’s mother.

“Ah… I’m sorry, you know ‘em Jehovah’s Witness always banging loud on your door especially on a Saturday.” Ms. Harvey smiled uneasily. She kept fidgeting with her hair. It would take a stylist all day to set it right but Ms. Harvey seemed determined to fix it then and there. “Coco isn’t here. She hanging out with her other friends. You know she got a lot of friends now. I was with some friends at a bar, celebrating her good deeds.”

Ms. Harvey broke down and started crying loudly. Her howling had neighbors opening their doors.

“Y’all better come inside. You don’t know these—”

“Ms. Harvey, we called you earlier this morning,” Josephine said.

“Oh really? Come inside, come inside,” Ms. Harvey said, pulling herself together “I thought it was some prank caller. They’re so rude calling and hanging up all the time. You can’t trust people. I don’t call anyone and hang up. I always leave a damn message. It’s the right thing to do.”

Ms. Harvey drew her red housecoat about her emaciated frame. The visitors were baffled by Ms. Harvery’s behavior.

“Everyone with a cellphone think they can call you from anywhere in the world and you can hear them. I can’t hear them. My phone is in the house. You can call anywhere and somewhere… cellphone... ah… Coco doesn’t have a cellphone so if you want, you’re welcome to wait on her. I’m mad at her. She’ll come creeping in but I got news for her.” Tears began rolling down Ms. Harvey’s cheek. Sophia reached out with a Kleenex. The woman seemed dazed and ignored her.. “Coco isn’t here. She went out with her other friends. They went clubbing… Come in.”

“We know Ms. Harvey,” Sophia said as they stepped inside.

It was dark and dingy inside the apartment. A foul odor of burnt plastic greeted them. The place was reeking of burnt plastic and ammonia. A stale, foul odor emanated throughtout. The visitors held their collective breaths.

“Could we just open the shade a lil’ sump’n, please?” Josephine asked.

“Yes, please open a window,” Sophia requested. “It’s a nice day out.”

“You can’t trust no one. Sometimes I forget to close the window and they come in here—Coco always make sure all the windows and the door are locked. No one is ever gonna sneak up on her.” Ms. Harvey was crying and nervously chattering.

Sophia moved closer to her. Deedee and Josephine glanced around the place. Things seemed ordinary except on the center table.

“Ms. Harvey...” Sophia started.

While Eric and Sophia looked around the place, the eyes of Deedee and Josephine followed Ms. Harvey. The woman quickly and cunningly scooped remnants of last night’s party, all the time ignoring her company. She quickly walked away to the trash can in the kitchen, dumped the works and then hurried back.

“Sit down and have a seat. She ain’t here yet. Y’all might as well get comfy. She bought this sofa, you know? Y’all gonna wait for Coco, right? I can’t wait to see her… ooh, she know not to be out so late… all night? Now you know this a little bit too ridiculous,” Ms. Harvey said.

The woman slowed down for a bit and Sophia seized the moment as Ms. Harvey sat down.

“Ms. Harvey. Ah… well, Coco, she’s in the hospital downtown—”

“Huh, what?” the woman shouted, jumping up. Her housecoat opened, revealing a body withering with years of drug abuse. Her sagging breast waved side to side as she spoke incoherently. “What’s Coco doing down in the hospital?” She gathered the red robe at the waist. “I mean, why’s Coco downtown, in some hospital? What she doing, huh? That girl done lost her mind. You just wait until she gets up in here,” Ms. Harvey ranted.

“Ms Harvey, she—” Sophia said, with tears welling. She reached into her purple Chloe handbag for a Kleenex tissue.

“She was supposed to be celebrating her high school graduation. She did great. She delivered her speech and walked across the stage. I was so proud of my daughter. I went and had a few drinks at the bar with my friends. I had to celebrate but I came back home. She’s still not here… oh… Then what the fuck is she doing in a damn hospital downtown?”

Ms. Harvey paused as the words ricocheted slowly off her inebriated mind. She sat down pulling the robe about her. The deranged mother’s tiny frame seemed to disappear in the shroud of the fabric. The visitors were speechless and Ms. Harvey let out a loud and long, piercing scream.

“No-o-oooooo… Don’t tell me… please don’t tell me,” she shouted sobbing loudly.

The visitors looked at her in awe. There were no dry eyes in the apartment. Sophia rushed to her aide. She hugged the distraught mother as she spoke to her.

“Ms Harvey, Coco was shot, but she’s recovering. The doctors want to talk to you.”

“Shot!” she shrieked and started hopping around the place.

The bad news shot her into a fit of hysteria. Eric rushed to hold Sophia because he felt she was in danger of being hit by Ms. Harvey’s flailing arms. He moved her out the way just in time. The distraught mother wailed for minutes. Ms. Harvey curled her frail body into a fetal position on the floor, crying like a newborn. With tear-stained face, she glanced hopefully at Eric, Deedee and Josephine in turn. She got up, shook her head and walked away .

“I tried to warn her about all this hanging out but she wouldn’t listen,” Ms. Harvey said. Then suddenly, she paused. “What the doctor want to see me for? I wasn’t with her. I didn’t shoot her,” Ms. Harvey said, looking around, expecting an answer. Then she chuckled. “They should be out looking for the peoples who shot my daughter. I’m going down there. What hospital she in? I’m going there to give them doctors and everybody sump’n to think about. They just killed Miss Katie, they ain’t gonna kill Coco. The first thing you know you get shot and they wanna do heart surgery so they can bill the city. It’s all the damn new HMO and healthcare plan. You can’t just go to any doctor. You gotta find one inside your health plan and if he’s not good then you can’t change cause they won’t pay.That HMO Miss Katie belonged to wouldn’t approve any more treatment for her. And her insurance was up, so they pulled the life-plug on her. Those doctors wanna tell you who can live and who can’t. It’s the fittest of the fit and the richest of the rich who rules. I’m poor, so I’m gonna get change and go see my daughter. What hospital you say she’s at?”

“St. Vincent’s,” Sophia said.

Ms. Harvey walked away, leaving a heavy, dark haze in the living room. Sophia sniffled still feeling the woman’s pain. Eric moved close and hugged her. Immediately, thoughts of his dead brother’s wife, who had been missing for over ten years, swam in his head. She was probably lying dead somewhere unknown, Eric mused. She was a victim of an awful crack habit and behaved a lot like Coco’s mother. The reason Deedee felt close to Coco dawned on him. It hit him like a ton of bricks. He remembered how Deedee described her mother the last she had seen her.

Denise, his dead brother’s wife, had gotten heavily into drugs after his brother’s sudden death. She couldn’t handle his murder, for he had died in an ambush which remained unsolved. His death had hurt everyone. Deedee told Eric about vividly remembering the last month before her mother, Denise, was carried away by the police and paramedics after stealing to support her burgeoning crack habit. She lost a lot of weight, there were a lot of similarities between her mother’s appearance and Coco’s mother. Deedee always spoke about the hatred she felt toward her mother.

He had tried to explain but Deedee didn’t want to understand. She wouldn’t listen. She had quietly changed her name on the school register by forging her mother’s signature. She had been Denise D. Ascot, but changed it to Deedee. Deedee despised her mother because of the drug abuse. During the period they lived together, Deedee told him of often wishing for her mother’s death. She used to say a special prayer before going to sleep.