Stripping Asjiah II (12 page)

B ear was barking ferociously as he ran into my room. He sniffed around the couch in my sitting area, near the attic door, and inside my closet where he lingered for a minute.

The top drawer to my dresser, where I kept all my panties and bras was open.
Someone had been in here.

Very meticulous about how I fold my clothes it didn‟t take long to see that someone had rambled through my things.

I could feel my palms begin to sweat as I held up a pair of thongs which felt slightly damp. Tossing them onto the floor, I looked around my closet to see if anything else had been touched but nothing else seemed out of place.

From inside my bedroom, Bear began to bark again causing me to jump.
“What the fuck?”
A chill went down my spine as I looked at my bed. My black sheets were wrinkled and spattered with semen. I felt the lump begin to grow as I fought hard against the bile that was rising in my throat.
It couldn‟t be.
It wasn‟t possible.
He was here.
Bear was on his hind legs, growling viciously at the window which was wide open.
I didn‟t have time to panic. I ran into the other room, grabbed every suitcase and overnight bag I owned and began packing.
I opened the She-Ra Cloud Castle that was in the very back of my closet and stuffed the rolls of money I had stashed inside of it into my book bag.
After making several trips to the car I went back upstairs to make sure I had gotten everything. There were still toys that I managed to salvage from California but I didn‟t have any room, I would have to come back and get those things later.
There was no way I would spend another night in this house. I had been a fool to think that I could come back here; careless to believe that I could let my guard down and that I would be safe here.
Descending the stairs three at a time I grabbed my purse off the kitchen table and ran out the side door with Bear following me. After he jumped in, I strapped the seatbelt around the Rottweiler and rushed over to the driver side.
Putting the Civic in reverse, I hoisted myself up with my left foot, placed my hand over the passenger side headrest, and backed out the driveway.
Bear barked again as he panted anxiously in the passenger seat.
“It‟s okay, boy. We‟re gonna go somewhere safe.”
Had I taken a moment to look back at the house I would‟ve seen what he was barking at.
Cash was on the roof, watching my every move.

She couldn‟t breathe. Her efforts to free herself had failed and she was running out of time. It seemed the harder she fought, the tighter his grip became. Her lungs were on fire and pretty soon the oxygen that flowed to her heart would be cut off and she‟d die.

She begged, pleaded for him to stop, to let her go but her cries fell on deaf ears.
He had no regard for human life. His eyes were filled with pure malice as he looked down at her. The vodka bottle that he shoved up her ass had caused her to bleed and that only angered him further. He punched her repeatedly, shouted curses, only stopping to change the position he had her in so that he could think of some other sick way to rape her.
What was taking so long? Why wouldn‟t she die? The mixture of blood and alcohol along with the bacterial infection she already had was causing the burning inside of her vagina to intensify.
She screamed but he thought it was out of pleasure so he didn‟t stop. He assumed the wetness he felt was from her arousal so he plunged his fist inside of her desperate to make her think it was his penis although his erection had failed him hours ago.
Her vision became blurry, the room seemed to shift, her eyes closed and she blacked out.
Finally, it was over.
“Hey.” Danielle smiled and brushed Keyshia‟s hair out of her face.
“You‟re awake.”
“You…”
“She‟s been here everyday with you since you were admitted.”
Ashley walked over to the bed, pressed a button on the remote, and adjusted the pillow so she could sit up.
“You were there, in the bathroom…”
“Yes, I called the ambulance. My name‟s Danielle but everyone calls me Danny.”
Keyshia looked at the girl who had saved her life and began to cry.
“Aww, don‟t do that. It‟s okay, you‟re all better now.” Danielle took one of the tissues and affectionately wiped her face.
“I‟m sorry, it‟s just that…well I…I thought…”
“You don‟t have to apologize; you have every right to be emotional.”
“Thank you.”
“Did you buy me all this?” Keyshia looked around the room motioning at the stuffed animals and balloons.
“No, it‟s from Asjiah.”
“Asjiah?”
“Yeah, you had her listed as your sister in your phone so I called her. She came up here a few minutes later and then got into it with your mom.”
“My mother was here?”
“Yep and things got pretty heated between them.”
“I bet.”
“She has quite the temper on her; I thought your mom was going to hit her.”
“Damn, it was like that? She could only imagine what her mother must‟ve thought let alone the things that probably ran through Asjiah‟s mind when they saw her.
“Yeah, but she didn‟t back down. She holds her own to be so small.”
Keyshia rolled her eyes at the way she was glorifying Asjiah.
“She‟s all bark and no bite, don‟t let her scare you.”
Danielle folded the blanket that had kept her warm through the night and continued to ramble.
“She‟s very pretty.”
“Who?”
“Asjiah,” Danielle thought back to their first encounter two weeks ago. She looked mixed. With what she wasn‟t sure but she was beautiful. Thick black curls cascaded down her back and her buttermilk complexion was kissed with freckles that seemed to be placed perfectly on her face and those eyes; such pretty blue eyes.
The clicking sound of Keyshia sucking her tongue in annoyance snapped her out of her daydream.
“She‟s aiight.”
“She was worried about you. She comes up here just about every night and brings you something from the gift shop.”
“She can‟t be too worried if you‟re here and she isn‟t.”
“I don‟t know what‟s going on between the two of you but you should talk to her, and work things out.” “You sure have a lot of opinions given the fact you don‟t know me, Asjiah, or the situation.” Keyshia winced as she leaned on her elbow.
“What did you say your name was again?”
“Danielle.”
“What school did you go to? Where did you grow up?”
“Warrensville and I grew up off Northfield, lived in Granada Apartments, anything else?”
First she was questioned by Asjiah now this. Why were they so unappreciative? If it weren‟t for her, she would‟ve died in that room, alone and by herself.
“So Danielle from Warrensville, do you always poke your nose into other people‟s affairs?” Keyshia grimaced once more as she reached for the cup of water next to her bed.
“My nose saved your life. If it weren‟t for me you‟d be laying on a slab somewhere being filled with embalming fluid.”
The tension was thick. For a minute the girls eyes were locked in an intense stare, both challenging each other silently, neither looking away until one of them spoke.
“You know I saw him.” Danielle got up from Keyshia‟s bed and sat in the chair crossing her arms as if to say „now what‟.
“Saw who?”
She felt paralyzed; fear was causing her to reminisce of the time she spent locked up in that room. Vivid pictures of blood, her blood, the shrill sound of screams, and his animal like grunting.
Bringing her out of her thoughts, Danielle continued to talk, “The man who was in the room with you, the person who I assume, did this to you.”
“I don‟t know what you‟re talking about.”
“Big black guy, bald head, about six feet or taller,” Keyshia couldn‟t recall what he looked like, he had to have been attractive enough for her to agree to go to a hotel with him but her memory was hazy, his description was fragmented pieces in her subconscious, everything except…
“And he had this scar on his neck.”
That.
The machine to the left of the bed began to beep rapidly signaling a spike in her heart rate. Keyshia clutched her gown, gasping for breath.
“Nurse!”

C limbing back into the house, Cash closed the window behind him and sat down on the bed. Running his hands over his bald head he tried to hold on to her image as long as he could. It was hard for him to contain himself as he watched her rush through her room terrified that her worst fear was materializing.

She had noticed her clothes had been tampered with, she had seen the sheets; she knew it was him. He didn‟t mean to alarm her; he only wanted her to become aware of his presence to let her know that her act of vengeance wouldn‟t go unpunished. But she ran. Where he was uncertain but he was sure in due time he would find her and fate would bring them back together again. Until then he waited.

“Pooh Bear!”
I heard her voice before her small, petite figure appeared in the doorway. She had affectionately nick named me Pooh when I was born because she said I looked like the Disney character as a baby; fat, soft and cuddly.

Her vanilla colored skin was smooth and radiant and a head full of curly gray hair was all over her head. Behind reading glasses, one blue and one gray eye beamed back at me with excitement. Time hadn‟t aged her at all; she still looked the same from when I was a little girl. She was by far the cutest little lady I knew.

“Hi Grandma -me,” She smelled like baby powder as I hugged her I immediately began to feel better.
Bear stood beside me patiently waiting for her to acknowledge him as well. A gentle rub behind the ears was enough to satisfy him as he trotted by us into the house.
In between the times that my father waited to be stationed somewhere else with the Army, we would always come back here and stay with her until we got housing. Given that this was his side of the family and where I spent the better years of my childhood, I felt more comfortable around her. That and the fact I looked more like my father‟s family. I didn‟t have to worry about people playing the “name that child” game when someone came to visit.
Unfortunately things were the opposite for Angel and since everyone on this side was damn near white, he would stick out like a sore thumb. The difference is no one ever treated him like he didn‟t belong. Unlike Marie, they didn‟t see color. They loved us because we were my parent‟s children and most of all because we were family.
If I would‟ve had things my way I would‟ve preferred for Grandmame to be my guardian. I‟m sure shit would‟ve been a lot different.
“My little Pooh, what are you doing here? It‟s not the weekend yet is it?”
I sat my things near the stairs then joined her in the living room.
“No, it‟s not the weekend yet. I missed you and I wanted to come and stay with you for a while.”
She pushed her glasses up on her nose, “You know you can stay here as long as you like.”
Trying not to appear shaken I grabbed her hand and held it against my cheek before kissing it. “I know.”
“So what shall we do first?”
I pretended to think of an activity for us although I already knew what I wanted.
“Can we make cookies?”
Baking was something that she had been doing with me since I was a toddler. We would be up to our elbows in chocolate chips and cookie dough and afterwards, she would always let me lick the bowl.
While the cookies were in the oven, we would have tea and sit and talk about anything my little heart desired. Of course my conversation skills had improved since I was three but our tradition hadn‟t changed.
Scratching Bears ears she talked to him as he stared back at her attentively. “Pooh said she wants cookies, so let‟s go make cookies.”
I got up and followed them into the kitchen and it wasn‟t long before I allowed the aroma of melting chocolate to invade my senses and erase my thoughts of Cash.

Keyshia was hoping it was all a bad dream but when she opened her eyes, the little Latina girl was still sitting in the chair and she was still in the hospital.

Danielle‟s admission had sent her into a state of anxiety, of dread, vertigo, in which it became difficult for her to breathe thus causing her little episode.

She didn‟t want to believe there was any truth to her statement but after she described his scar, the scar she seen over and over in her dreams, she knew she wasn‟t lying.

Danielle refilled Keyshia‟s glass of water then sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Look, I don‟t know what your situation is but I‟ve been here with you, everyday for two weeks now and from the looks of things your mother isn‟t coming back so aside from Asjiah, you don‟t have anyone else. So why don‟t we start over. You tell me a little about yourself, I‟ll tell you a little about me and maybe when you feel comfortable, you can tell me what happened to you.”
She wanted to be mad at somebody, blame anybody for what had happened but all fingers pointed back at her. Danielle was right; she didn‟t have anyone to turn to. She hadn‟t spoken to Asjiah since their last talk in the library; she definitely couldn‟t face her now, what would she think of her? What would she say? Looking back, Asjiah had tried to warn her, but she mistook her words of caution as jealousy.
Keyshia blinked several times attempting to keep the tears from falling.
“I guess I should start from the beginning.”

“H owfar along are you?”
Coughing, I tried not to spill cranberry-apple tea all over myself. Her question caught me off guard and I had to pat myself on the chest to keep from choking.

“How did you know?” I rubbed my eyes which had begun to water as a result of my coughing.
Grandma-me giggled as she got up from the chair and patted my swollen abdomen. “Little Pooh kicked me when I hugged you earlier.”
I placed my hand over hers and leaned my head against her chest. “I‟m scared.”
“Now, now; you‟re a strong girl Asjiah. A lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. You‟ve been through worse things before and this baby is a blessing. You may not understand it now, but this child may be exactly what you need to help you heal.”
“I almost had an abortion; I don‟t deserve to be a mother.”
This time my eyes were filled with real tears as I thought back to my experience at the clinic.
“I was going to kill it. I was going to murder my baby.”
“Hush now.” Wrapping her arms around me she kissed me on the forehead. “You were just scared that‟s all. Everything‟s going to be okay. I‟ll help you as best I can.”
I would‟ve never gotten this reaction out of Marie. She was still unaware of my pregnancy and I‟m sure the minute I told her she would call me all kinds of dumb bitches, sluts, and whatever else she could think of. Grandma-me, on the other hand, consoled me, spoke to me in a soothing tone and reassured me that everything would be fine. She trusted me to make the right decisions and if I did make a mistake, we talked about it and she allowed me room to learn from it, and see, the error in my ways.
Bear began to snore prompting laughter from both of us as we looked down at his gigantic body sprawled out on the floor. I could tell he felt more comfortable here as well.
“So do you have names picked out?”
“No. Not yet. I don‟t know what I‟m having so I‟ve just been calling it baby Jai.”
“She would like that.”
We shared a brief moment of silence for my mother until the familiar dinging noise of the timer sounded letting us know that the cookies were done. I retrieved two small saucers from the cabinet as she got the baking sheet out of the oven. I placed one cookie on each plate and handed them to her while I carried our tea cups back into the living room.
As I took my place across from her I looked out the window and watched as the sun faded behind the trees. I was only fifteen minutes away from Marie‟s house but when I was here, it felt like we were worlds apart.