Booty Call *69 (32 page)

Naja grips my hand tightly as we slowly step toward the cedar coffin. My eyes are partially closed, and I start to tremble as I get closer to Jakim’s lifeless body.

First Terry, and now Jakim. How many boyfriends and exes will I lose in my lifetime?
I say to myself. Terry’s murder is still unsolved, and that bothers me. I’m suspicions about Tyrone again, even though he gave me his word that he didn’t do it. But he also once gave me his word that he wouldn’t do anything to Jakim. Obviously his word doesn’t mean shit!

I stand over Jakim’s coffin and slowly open my eyes. Upon doing so, I see him—his shell anyway—lying there so peacefully. He’s wearing a gray three-piece suit, his arms are gently folded and his eyes are shut.

As I peer down at him, I suddenly feel a surge of guilt. It’s because of me that he’s dead. I had to go and mess with his best friend, knowing the type of man he was. I let my sexual feelings get the best of me, and because of that, my true love is dead.

I start to tremble even harder, my bottom lip quivers and my knees buckle. I throw all of my weight against Naja, who holds me up and supports me. “JAKIM!!!” I scream out. He didn’t deserve this.

Naja tries to comfort me, but I start to get wild and out of control. I feel a few more arms drape around me, then pick me up and carry me off down the aisle.

“It’s okay, Shana,” I hear someone say.

Then from the corner of my eye, I see her. She’s slowly coming my way. She’s dressed in a black blouse and skirt. She’s cut her hair short, and her eyes stay on me the whole time as she approaches. “How you holding up, Shana?” Sasha asks with concern.

I don’t answer. I just stare at her. She hands me a card and some flowers. I slowly take them.
Why is she here?
It’s been months since we’ve last seen each other, and I haven’t heard anything about her. It was like she just disappeared.

“Shana…look, I’m sorry. You have my condolences. Jakim was a good man. And I’m sorry about what happened between us and the way I acted. We were foolish, and I just want to put it behind us,” she says, not once averting her eyes from me.

Jakim forgave me. He still took me into his life after all we had been through. He was ready for us to start a new life together. He was even willing to raise a child that might not have been his. Jakim forgave me, so there’s no reason for me to not forgive her. “I’m sorry, too, Sasha,” I say giving her a hug, and Naja even joins in on the embrace.

I’m ready to start a new chapter in my life, a better one,
I say to myself as I look around. I know Jakim would want that; I have our son to raise and take care of.

It pains me to be here tonight at the Midnight Lounge. But it needs to be done, though. I look for Tyrone and see him in the VIP section having a good time. He has a bottle of Moet in his hand, and he’s flanked by two beautiful
women. He hasn’t yet noticed me. He’s too busy being the man and showing off.

I have some news to tell him. He has a son. I cried when I found out that the baby is his. Jakim’s mother and father took DNA tests to see if Jakim Junior was their grandson, but the tests came back negative. Danny also got tested, too, which was a shock to me. He was charged with first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. But he willingly took the DNA test to see if it was his child, and it was negative. I knew then that Tyrone was my son’s father.

Unfortunately, my mother found out about my brief affair with Danny. We had a quarrel over it, but she eventually forgave me and we became the best of friends. She gave birth to an eight-pound, nine-ounce boy on August fifteenth. My aunt also gave birth—to a baby girl—five months after my mother. She slowed her life down after that, and now she’s engaged to a sanitation worker. She’s decided to leave the thug life to the thugs. She’s done with them.

Sasha and I have become the best of friends again. We see each other almost every day. And with Naja around, we’re like the
Dynamic Trio
. They really help me out a lot with the baby, and I love them so much for that. Sasha is watching my son tonight. She encouraged me to confront Tyrone at his club. She wanted to come along, but I need her to be with my son. Naja is in school full time trying to get her bachelor’s degree, and holding down a full time job, too. She’s doing her thang.

That ho, Latish, has surprisingly turned her life around, too. She found a stable boyfriend and has been faithful to him for a few months now. We speak here and there, but we’re not cool like that. I keep my distance from her most of the time.

I’ve started going to school myself. I’m attending York College to get my Bachelors degree. I also got a job at a clothing store on Jamaica Avenue and have become very independent; I no longer look for men to take care of me. I’m making my own paper and providing for my son on my own.

We’ve all changed a lot since Jakim’s murder. From family to friends, everybody’s on the ball. Sasha dumped Cell a long time ago, and she’s pregnant with her first child. The baby’s father is a store manager at K-Mart. It’s a drastic change for her, but she’s getting used to it, as we are all getting used to the changes in our lives.

I stand by the bar watching Tyrone. I hate him. He wants his son, and he’s going to have him; I’m going to hit that muthafucka with child support, back-payments and everything. He’s gonna come out his pockets big-time. I haven’t seen or heard from him since the funeral. He’s still hustling in the streets.

“Can I buy you a drink, beautiful?” a tall, brown- skinned man asks me.

“No thanks,” I gently reply.

“You sure? You lookin’ good in that skirt, ma. What’s your name?” I smile. He’s cute, but he’s not for me. He’s dripping with jewelry and has that thuggish demeanor.

“Maybe next time,” I tell him and casually walk off.

I move to the other side of the bar, and think about how I should approach him. I never once resented my son after I found out that Tyrone is his father; Jakim Junior was still the love of my life. And despite Tyrone being an asshole and more, I’m going to teach his son how to be a better man, more of a man than he ever was.

I take a sip from my Long Island Ice Tea and look over at Tyrone. He’s finally noticed me standing by the bar. He smirks and gives me a slight head nod. Then he raises the bottle in my direction and starts guzzling down the Moet. One of the ladies sitting next to him kisses him on the neck and is then all over him. I sigh and roll my eyes at him in disgust.

He doesn’t give a fuck, which is making it harder for me to do what I have to do. I sit my glass down on the counter...I’m about to go over there. I unexpectedly see Evay in the crowd. I haven’t seen or heard from him in months. They say he was locked up.

Evay makes his way through the crowd, looking unaffected by the blaring music and revelers in the place. He has a cold, blank stare on his face as he walks toward the VIP section. He slowly navigates through the crowd. From where I stand he doesn’t look right in his mind, but for some strange reason I can’t turn away. I don’t know what he’s up to. He doesn’t see me. I take a closer look at him and notice that he has something gripped in his hand. It’s a gun. I’m in awe.

“Yo, Tyrone!” Evay shouts, standing a few feet from him. Tyrone looks up and sees Evay standing in front of him. I see Evay raise the gun and fire it at Tyrone.
Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Click. Click. Click. Click.

Everyone instantly runs and scatters. The club is in chaos. Evay shot Tyrone nine times. Tyrone’s body is slumped over in his seat, riddled with bullets. Blood is everywhere. His two female companions ran for safety along with everyone else, leaving him alone at the booth. All I hear is screaming and panicking. I never moved from my spot. I stand frozen by the bar with my eyes fixed on Evay. I watch his every move.

“That’s for Jakim, you bitch ass niggah! And don’t you ever put
your fuckin’ hands on me again!” Evay exclaims as he glares at Tyrone’s contorted and lifeless body.

He turns and starts to walk the opposite way, passing me. He looks at me, and then he smiles and winks.

I’m still in awe. While everyone is running, screaming and looking for safety, I remain standing at the bar without moving.

Evay is gone. I look over at Tyrone. He’s a mess. I feel nothing—no emotion whatsoever…he brought it on himself. And he didn’t even get a chance to say one word. It happened so quickly. Just like that, his life ended at the hands of a friend.

 

 

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