Rayqelle's Revenge ---Book 1--- Special Holiday Edition (Ratchet) (7 page)

When I got to the emergency room Letah was talking to the nurse. She told us that they would have to run some test and it could be a while before they knew anything. I put my arms around Letah and we sat down in the waiting room. About an hour later the doctor came out and told us that Lynn had suffered a massive heart attack but she was stable. The doctor also said the she was gonna need an emergency bypass. She had a collapse in one of her major arteries and that she might need a blood transfusion. He asked if we could both donate some of our blood just in case.

“Of course!” I said.

The nurse came out to take us to a room and draw our blood.

“Follow me please,” said the nurse. I walked behind her and was about halfway down the hall before I realized that Letah was still standing in the waiting room. I stopped and turned around.

“Just a moment please,” I said to the nurse. I turned to walk back down the hallway; Letah stood perfectly still as I approached.

“What? What are you doin’? The nurse is waitin’, Lynn is waitin’. What’s the problem?” I asked.

“I can’t,” she said blankly.

“You can’t what? Girl… come on here and quit bein’ a baby. I know you ain’t still scared of needles. It’ll be alright, you’ll just feel a little pinch and that’s it. Come on. Do it for Lynn.” I said, growing more frustrated.

“No! I can’t!” She shouted.

“Why,” I asked. Letah turned away.

“I just can’t! So… stop askin’ me!” Letah shouted louder.

“You selfish little bitch! Our sister is layin’ in that operatin’ room fightin’ for her life, and you can’t? No, wait… You won’t take a little needle stick? It’s always about you ain’t it? You always have been a lil’ self-centered heffa’! I don’t believe you! This is so…” I said as Letah interrupted.                                            

“She can’t have my blood! I’m sick Rayqelle!” Letah shouted!

“Sick how? What? You got a cold or somethin’? What is it? We ain’t got all day!” I demanded.

“Rayqelle I am sick! I have HIV!” Letah shouted again as she broke down into tears.

“What? Oh my God! No, please God? NO!” I said. “What? How? Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked putting my arms around her.

“Please... time is of the essence,” the nurse said from down the hall; unaware of the serious conversion that was taking place.

“Miss Davis, please!” the nurse said again.

“I’ll be right back,” I whispered; kissing Letah’s forehead as I headed back down the brightly lit hallway with the nurse.

“It’ll just be me,” I told the nurse as she led me to the exam room. When I got back to the waiting room Letah was asleep on the stiff vinyl love seat that was neatly situated across from the partitioned nurses’ station.

I sat down quietly, struggling not to wake my little sister as she seemed to sleep so soundly.

Letah was my baby. I remember when Ladybird and Davis brought her home from the hospital and I held her in my arms and fed her. I use to rock her to sleep. She was so precious to me. Now to find out that she’s HIV positive, I couldn’t believe it. Lynn in that operating room about to have open-heart surgery, and Davis was gone. “I just don’t know what to do. I’m an emotional wreck. How do I move forward from here? How do pull myself together enough to be able to bury our father in just two days from now. How am I gonna get through this; especially if Lynn dies. I wont be able to do it, but I gotta be strong for Letah. She’s gonna need me,” I thought looking at her as she peacefully slept.

Me and Letah sat in the waiting room while Lynn was in surgery. It seemed like forever! One hour passed and then another and another… Seconds seemed like minutes and minutes like hours. Then finally there was a knock at the door. It was Dr. Bauer. He had been Lynn’s doctor since she moved to San Diego. He was the best cardiologist in Southern California.

“Miss Davis. Well we’ve done all we can, and now it’s...Well, all we can do is wait and pray for the best. We’ll be moving your sister into recovery. The next twenty-four hours are going to be the most critical,” said Dr. Bauer.

“Well can we see her?” I asked the doctor.

“Sure. She’s heavily sedated though so don’t stay too long. What she needs more than anything is rest,” said the doctor as he moved toward the door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, and try to get some rest yourselves.” He added.

“Thank you Dr. Bauer” I said softly, still sitting with Letah asleep on my lap as the doctor left the room and the door closed.

Quietly I prayed. “Dear Lord, it’s me. I know it’s been along time since you’ve heard from me and I know I don’t talk to you as often as I should but, I’m comin’ to you now. Lynn needs yo’ strength. Please touch her Lord and make well again, cuz’ we need her. And please Lord, just lay yo’ hands on Letah. I know they say that there’s no cure for the disease she has, but it’s in yo’ hands.

About ten minutes went by and then I heard a knock at the door.

“Come in, it’s open…” I said softly.

The door opened as a tall, broad figure entered the dimly lit room. I could not make out who it was, but then a deep voice spoke.

“Hey baby... I came as soon as I heard... Come here, I’m gon’ take care of you. Come give yo’ nigga a hug and kiss… Damn! I ain’t seen you in over three years! Girl, you look good!” It was Tico Vega! The depth of his voice shook the room like the aftershock of a Southern California earthquake as I quietly trembled!

“What are you doin’ here Tico?” I asked as my voice shuttered in fear.

“I’m here to take care of my girl. I mean… you still my girl, right? “

Tico asked in a tone that demanded an answer of his liking.

“How did you find me?” I asked him, though I suspected I already knew the answer.

“I called Iesha to see if she knew how to get in touch with you and she told me where you was at.” He said as he moved toward me, touching my cheek with the back of his rough hand. Tico thought he was the shit! He was a tall, stocky built nigga’ with an odd colored bronze skin. His father was Haitian and his mama was a full-blooded Mexican-Indian, which gave him a most unique appearance. His eyes were deep set and slanted. His lips were full, nose was wide and prominent, and his hair was thick, black and wavy. He was a light skinned, funny lookin’ nigga’;  kinda’ put you in the mind of Max Julian. The man that played in -The Mack-, and that’s just who he thought he was too. He was really sort of ugly, but he had game like a mutha’fucka. That more than made up for what he lacked in looks. I mean this nigga’ could talk the funk off a skunk! It was just something about him that made all the bitches wanna say “yes!!!” to whatever  game he was runnin’. Believe me, I know what I’m talkin’ about, because that’s how he got me.

“Did Iesha also tell you that I was engaged?” I asked.

“Yeah. She told me about some lame ass nigga’. So what? You just needed something to tie you over ‘till I got out. I understand that, but Daddy’s home now.” Tico said as Letah started to wake up.

“My daddy is dead, and so is anything I ever felt for yo’ sorry ass!” I said as my fear slowly turned to anger.

“What’s up Letah?” Tico said touching her hair.

“Nigga don’t touch me! What the fuck is he doin’ here Rayqelle?” Letah shouted as she looked at me with confusion.

“Tico, you gotta go. I want you to leave, now!” I said as I tried to restrain myself from shouting in the hospital. The last thing these white people needed to see was a bunch’a niggas in here clownin’.

“Iesha said you needed me baby. That’s why I’m here,” Tico said as he leaned in to try and kiss me.

“She lied! Now I want you to leave before I go get the police Tico!” I shouted.

“The police? Oh… it’s like dat’ now? What? I ain’t seen you in over three years and this is how you gon’ do me? What? You think you better than me now cuz’ you graduated from college and got’chu a lil’ job? You think you better than me cuz’ you got some punk ass nigga wit a lil’ money payin’ for the pussy?” Tico said as he began to get angry.

“He ain’t ever had to pay for this pussy! You da’ the only nigga that paid fa’ dis,” I said as my anger intensified.

“Yeah. Me and every otha’ mutha’fucka’ you tricked wit’. I pimped you bitch! Did you forget? I gave yo’ pussy a purpose, you were nothin’! Bitch. I made you! I guess you forgot. You just a ho’! I own you. I’m a real balla’. A boss! You ain’t shit without me! You better remember that!!” Tico said pointing his rusty finger in my face that smelled of stale Kool Filtered Kings; his cigarette of choice.

“Get the fuck out Tico!” Letah stood up and screamed as she snatched away from me and rushed toward him.

“Get back bitch,” Tico said as he slapped her to the floor.

“Nigga you ain’t shit! You ain’t never been shit but a liar and a user!” Letah said as she grew more and more out of control.

“Yeah… and I used yo’ ass good didn’t I? I bet’chu  ain’t tell Big Sis about that one,” Tico said.

Letah lowered her head as if ashamed. “Oh what? Don’t get quiet on me now. Come on! You mean to tell me Rayqelle don’t know?” Tico asked, looking back and forth from me to Letah, grinning crookedly.

“Know what Tico?” I asked.

“About me and Letah,” Tico said.

“What about you and Letah?” I asked as my stomach tied itself in knots.

“When you left… as soon you left. This lil’ bitch couldn’t wait to get her mouth around my dick! You couldn’t a been gone more than 24 hours before she had her lil’ hot ass over at my house, fuckin’ my brains out!” Tico said.

“Shut the fuck up Tico! I mean it!” Letah said leaping to her feet.

“What?” I asked in shock.

“I don’t know what the fuck you gettin’ all salty about? You wasn’t givin’ me no pussy anyway. After you got all high and mighty. Started talkin’ bout ‘cho education and how you needed mo’ out of life… you uppity bitch! But that’s o.k,  lil’ sis’ stepped right on in and made up for the six months worth’a pussy you shorted me on. She gave it to me good too. Didn’t you baby girl? And in return, I gave you your first taste of some real dick!” Tico smirked and laughed.

“What you gave me was HIV mutha’fucka! You gave me HIV!” Letah screamed at the top of her lungs as she started to weep.

We all stood in silence as the smirk on Tico’s face slid away.

“Bitch! What the fuck you talkin’ about? I ain’t got no fuckin’ HIV! You nasty ho! If you do have it, you ain’t get that shit from me! Lil tramp, you lyin’! You was a ho’ anyway. You was fuckin’ yo’ own daddy!” Tico said shaking his head in stunned disbelief.

“I loved you,” Letah sobbed as tears streamed down her face and I began to tremble.

“You told me you loved me and that you loved me from the first time we met!” Letah added through a mass of tears.

“Lyin’ ass bitch! I ain’t ever say that I loved you! You was just some pussy to hold me over ‘til some real shit came along. Besides, I was just lettin’ you hide out from yo’ crazy ass daddy, cuz' he was molestin’ yo’ ass! Oh? What? Don’t tell me she don’t know that shit either,” he said as he looked back and forth between me and Letah. Tico laughed arrogantly.

“Shut the fuck up Tico!” Letah shouted.

“What? What is he talking about? Did something happen? Did Davis do something to you?” I asked as I stood stunned.

Letah cried, “He said if I told that he would make something happen to you and Lynn! He said that he needed me, and that if I told nobody would believe me cuz' he was a police officer.  When Ladybird found out, she blamed herself. “ 

I threw my hand up into the air and interrupted her. “What are you saying? Are you telling me that Ladybird knew that Davis was hurting you, and she didn’t do anything about it? Is that what you are tellin’ me?” I asked in disbelief as I grabbed Letah by the shoulders.

“I heard them argue. She told Davis that she was taking us and leaving. Davis said that everybody knew that she was crazy and nobody was gonna believe her. He said that if she told he would have her locked up forever and she would never see her children again. That was two days before yo’ fourteenth birthday. The next day she was dead, she had hung herself. Everybody was just going through so much, so I never told. After you left to go back to Chicago for grad school, Tico called and told me all this shit about how much he loved me and that it was me he always wanted. I told him about Davis and he said that he would protect me and that he wanted me to come stay with him. So I stayed there for a few months. Really just to get away from Davis, but Tico just wanted to pimp me. So I ran away from him too! Then I was going to join the army to get away from town and try to make something of myself. When I went for my physical I found out that I was HIV positive,” she struggled to speak through a waterfall of tears.

“This bitch is lyin’ to you baby! I ain’t sick, come on baby… look at me! Do I look sick? ” Tico said to me as he reached out to touch my hand.

“You don’t have to look sick to have HIV you stupid mutha’fucka… Oh no! Oh no! You mean to tell I might have HIV? I just got tested last year... I gotta’ get tested! What about Chance? Oh my god.  I just shared me blood with Lynn! I need to find out if they gave her any of my blood. Oh God!” I said as I stormed out of the door pass Tico. He grabbed at my arm but I yanked away.

“You gon’ get yours nigga… I swear on everything I love!” Letah shouted to Tico as he quickly walked out of the door following behind me, leaving her still sobbing.

I ran and found Lynn’s doctor right away to make sure that she hadn’t received any of the blood they took from me. I explained the situation to him; telling him that I might have been infected and I needed to be tested immediately! He set up the tests right away. Luckily there was a lab on site at the hospital. They were able to run some kind of rapid test that came back in 4 hours…

And the clock began to tick!

CHAPTER 17

The wait was pure torture! I sat in the waiting room with Letah. She kept apologizing and trying to explain, but I didn’t even wanna hear it. All I could think about was Lynn and Chance. The frustrating part was that I didn’t even wanna tell him until I knew something, one way or another. He called several times while I was waiting on the results, but I just kept sending him to my voicemail. I couldn’t talk to him yet. What if I had infected him with this virus? What if… Oh my God! What about Iesha and her friend Sheila? We had just had that threesome! Oh God please! I begged.

Then the nurse came around the corner.

“I have the results of your test,” she said as the terror caused my heart to stop beating for just a moment.

“It was negative for HIV but because there is possibility that you have been exposed to the virus. You’ll need to get tested again in six months,” she said as I sighed in relief and breathed again.

“Thank you Jesus!!!” I shouted out loud.

Letah stood quietly looking out into space. I wanted to slap the shit outta’ her ass for betraying me, but there were too many other things going on that we needed to get through.

Lynn was still in intensive care and we still had Davis’s funeral to prepare for.  After we went and looked in on Lynn, Letah and I headed back to the house to get unpacked and to start making the arrangements for our stepfather’s burial. As it turns out, Letah was infected before she even started messing around with Tico, and Davis had to be the one who infected her; after years of having countless unprotected sexual encounters with prostitutes. It was all too deep and  sorted, and I wanted to discuss it. But I was way too tired! I was on the verge of a nervous break down, and  all I could do was just  get us home without wrecking the car.

The ride home was dead quiet and once we got back to the house, I just wanted to lay down and try to close my eyes for a few hours. I drug myself upstairs to one of the spare bedrooms, got undressed and fell into bed. When I turned the lights out I could see Letah’s silhouette standing in the doorway. She looked just like a little kid. The way she use to stand outside my room at night when she was scared.

“Come on in here” I said softly, just like I use to when she was a kid. Letah entered the room without a word and just laid herself down beside me and put her head against my shoulder. We were still sisters and that night we both struggled to sleep… with what seemed like the weight of the world heavy on both our hearts.