5ive Star Bitch (6 page)

“Cherish…” she paused for a second. “Dorian got shot.”

“What!”

“Cherish, calm down and come to the hospital.”

“Oh my God, is he alright, grandma?”

“Cherish, please… jus’ come to the hospital.”

“What hospital, grandma?”

“Saint Barnabas,” she said.

“I’m on my way,” I hung up.

Simeon just stared at me. It all felt like a dream.

“Cherish, what happened?” he asked.

“I gotta go,” I grabbed my purse and put my jacket on.

“Hold up,” he grabbed my arm. “I may be able to help if you tell me what’s going on.”

“I have to go to the hospital, my little brother got shot,” I told him.

“Damn,” he let my arm go and followed behind me. “Is he alright?”

“I don’t know; that’s what I’m going to find out.”

I jumped in my truck, peeled off and Simeon followed me all the way to the hospital. When we got there my grandmother was in the lobby waiting for me.

“Grandma, what happened?”

“They tried to kill my baby,” she cried.

The atmosphere was surreal. I was physically there, but mentally I was someplace else; someplace happy. But the reality set in real quick when the doctor came out and updated us on Dorian’s status.

“Miss Carter,” he said, extending his arm. “Hello, I’m Doctor Weinberg. Dorian has suffered multiple gunshot wounds but he is okay. Right now he’s in surgery getting patched up.”

I felt a little better after hearing my brother was okay. “So, when can we see him?” I asked.

“As soon as he comes out of surgery,” Doctor Weinberg was about to walk off, but he turned around. “Dorian’s a tough kid, surprised the hell out of me. Usually you see kids come in with injuries like that and they don’t make it. God was on his side today. Have a nice day,” he said, walking off.

I looked at my grandmother and tears were spilling from her eyes. I wrapped her in my arms and tried to console her. It hurt my heart to see her cry. “It’s okay, grandma… Dorian’s gonna be alright, he’ll be just fine.”

As we were waiting for Dorian to get out of surgery Jillian and Raquel rushed into the emergency room.

“Cherish, is he alright? I just got the call,” Raquel said, rushing to give me a hug.

“The doctor said he’s gonna pull through. Who the fuck would do some shit like this to Dorian, he don’t fuck with nobody.”

“Troy told me he was in the Bronx gambling and they robbed him,” Jill explained.

“Robbed him of what, he ain’t got no money,” my grandmother said.

“I gave him money yesterday, grandma,” I shook my head.

“I told that boy to stay in the house. He’s so damn hardheaded. I told you to talk to him, Cherish.”

“I did, grandma. He said he wasn’t doing anything.”

“Well, he’s doing something because you don’t get shot for doing nothing.”

She was right. Dorian lied to me. He was into something that he wasn’t telling us about and it almost cost him his life. I was pissed, and I couldn’t wait to see him to tell him how upset I was.

7

A few days later they released Dorian from the hospital. He got shot five times. Whoever did it was really trying to kill my little brother, and I still couldn’t believe it. Seeing him lying in that hospital bed did something to me. It definitely scared the shit out of me, but it also made me realize how precious life is. How one moment you could be laughing and smiling with someone and the next minute, they’re gone. It was crazy.

One of the bullets hit him in his jaw and knocked two of his teeth out, so his mouth was wired shut. I wanted to ask him a million questions, but I knew he was in pain. I knew he was suffering and I didn’t want to make him feel any worse. But as he soon as healed enough to talk, I was going to be on his ass like never before.

The day Dorian got shot was one of the worse days of my life. I don’t know what it was, but the drama was in full swing, and I couldn’t dodge it. It was like I was attracting that shit.

Ever since that day Simeon started playing me real close. We talked on the phone almost every day and we even met up a few times for dinner and drinks. Simeon was cool and he had money. Not that I needed his money, but it was good to know that it was there if I did need it; something like a security blanket.

The weather was starting to break, the sun was shining and I had on my Dolce and Gabbana shades doing eighty down I95. I was on my way to meet up with Simeon. He said he had something very important to tell me. He told me not to worry because it wasn’t bad news, so I wasn’t stressed at all. I gripped the steering wheel, pressed the gas and pushed the Porsche past speeds of a hundred miles an hour.

I pulled up to Amy Ruth’s on a hundred and sixteenth and Simeon was leaning against his Bentley, talking to two young looking kids. I got out the car and walked to where they were. The young boys were staring hard.

“Damn, ma… what’s ya’ name?” one of them asked. He had cornrow braids and gold teeth in his mouth, but he was a cutie.

I smiled at him. “Cherish,” I said and gave Simeon a kiss on his cheek.

“Oh, you fuckin’ wit’ this lame ass nigga…” the other young boy joked.

Simeon threw a few playful jabs at them and they took off down the block.

“Come take a ride wit’ me,” he said, getting in the driver’s seat.

“What about my car?”

“Leave it there, ain’t nobody gon’ fuck wit’ it.”

I jumped in the passenger seat of his Bentley Coupe and he pulled off.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Shhh…” he hushed me and hit the speaker button on his phone, “Yo, Lex, where them niggas be at that put the work in on the young boy the other day?” he asked.

“That’s lil’ Ron and dem’ niggas…” Lex replied. “They be over there by One Seven Oh and Park.”

“Oh, okay, okay… yeah, I know that lil’ nigga Ron, he a trouble maker too,” Simeon said. “Aight, good lookin…” he hung up.

I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about.

“You heard that?” he asked me.

“What was I supposed to hear?”

Simeon shook his head. “My lil’ man jus’ told me the kids who shot your lil’ brother be on One Seventieth and Park. You wanna see em’?”

I didn’t know what to say. I was shocked and speechless at the same time. And that’s something new for me. My heart started beating faster. “How did you find them?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about all that, shorty… I know a few people. Do you wanna see these dudes or not?”

“I don’t know exactly what you’re asking me. I don’t wanna kill anybody,”

Simeon bust out laughing.

“Don’t laugh, I’m serious,” I said.

“Girl, I ain’t talking about killin’ nobody, you wild… I thought maybe you wanted to see these niggas; say something to em’ or whateva.”

I thought about it for a moment, “Yeah,” I nodded my head, “I do wanna see them.”

We pulled up to a red light on One Seventieth and Park.

“There they go right there,” he pointed. About four or five young dudes were standing in front of the corner store. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

I watched Simeon cross the street and approach the small crowd. After a minute of talking to them, four of the kids slowly walked off and he continued to talk to the fifth. I could see them clearly, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying, so I rolled the window down.

“You know we don’t tolerate disrespect, I told you that before,” Simeon raised his arm and slapped the kid to the ground. “Get the fuck up!” he yelled.

I rolled the window up and faced forward. I couldn’t believe what Simeon was doing. He was beating the shit out of the kid. He literally beat him out of his clothes and then he dragged him to the car for me to see. He tapped on the window and told me to roll it down.

“Now, apologize!” Simeon held the kid by the back of his shirt.

“Sorr… sorr… sorry…” he cried.

His eyes were swollen shut, his nose was bleeding and his lips were busted. He looked like he got hit by a truck.

Simeon gave him a gut shot and the kid spit up blood. “Now get the fuck outta here!” he yelled and got back into the car and we peeled off.

We rode in silence for the first ten minutes. My eyes were on the road and I was trying to push the disturbing visions of that young boy out of my head. I could feel Simeon looking at me.

“Cherish, you alright?” he asked. He was calm, like nothing ever happened.

“You didn’t have to do that, Simeon.”

“I know,” he said.

“So, why did you do it?”

He cleared his throat and kept his eyes on the road. “Listen, Cherish, there’s a few things you may not know about me,” he looked at me.

I hoped this nigga wasn’t about to tell me some crazy shit like he was a serial killer or something.

“Remember when you asked me what type of business I was in?”

“Yeah,”

“Well, I wasn’t all the way honest with you,” he slowed to a stop at a red light and then looked at me. He didn’t have to say another word. I knew exactly what he was talking about. He had BOSS written all over him.

“I’m hungry,” I told him, changing the subject.

He smiled and asked me what I wanted to eat and I told him seafood, so he drove to City Island and we got lobster, shrimp and a few drinks.

I felt safe and secure with Simeon. It was his strong demeanor and assertiveness that attracted me to him in the first place, and that wonderful smile he had helped too. But I knew what type of nigga he was. He was a street nigga, and street niggas kept plenty of side bitches. I definitely wasn’t about to be nobody’s side chick. I was wife material, and I’ll be damned if I played the jumpoff role.

We ate, talked and he dropped me off at my car in Harlem. I still couldn’t get that kid’s face out of my head. It was bothering me, but I didn’t let it get the best of me.

“Get home safe, Cherish. Call me when you get in,” he said.

I waved bye, jumped in my truck and drove off.

8

The summer quickly settled upon us and the heat and humidity was at an all-time high. The temperature read ninety eight degrees, but it felt like a hundred and four, and the local news informed everyone to stay inside unless it was something important you had to go out for. The blaze was unbearable.

Jillian and I lounged in the waiting area of David Graham’s office while Raquel was briefed of her husband’s situation. It had been two months since they arrested him and the specifics about his case were starting to surface. The feds charged William with drug trafficking. He had twenty counts.

It was a tough time for my girl Raquel because now she had to maintain her household by herself. She had to suddenly take on the role of a single parent. Her daughter was seven years old and her husband was facing fifty years in federal prison.

She stormed out of the office and slammed the door. The expression on her face let me know that whatever he told her wasn’t what she wanted to hear. My girl was tight, and she had every right to be.

“You alright, Raq?” Jill asked.

“Nope, c’mon… let’s go.”

We got to my truck and I started the engine. “So, what did he say?” I asked.

Raquel pulled the seatbelt across her chest. “A bunch of nothing; definitely not what I expected him to say. He told me they’re not giving him a bail yet and if they do it’ll be at least a million dollars,” she turned and looked me in my face. “A million dollars, Cherish… I don’t have a million dollars,” she was about to cry.

“I know Raq. Don’t worry about it. If they give him a bail, we’ll get him out,” I told her. She half smiled and I turned the radio on.

“Fuck all this sad shit!” Jill shouted. “We need to go shopping and go out tonight. I need a few drinks and some music, and Raq… you could use a drink or two yourself,” she said.

We laughed, Raquel agreed and I turned the music up and headed for the highway.