Best Dressed Lie (Keisha Jackson) (9 page)

He walked towards Zan as if she was to blame for the
termination of the pregnancy. “Why would you say something
so cruel?” he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the
bedroom.
“Leave me alone! Stop it, Randy,” She yelled, kicking her
legs. “Keisha, make him stop!”
I grabbed Zan’s car keys, Jason and dialed 911 I limped as
fast as I could out the front door. As we headed towards the
car, I heard Zan screaming. The 911 operator asked what the
emergency was.
I was petrified. All I wanted to do was get in the car and
reverse out of there. I did not have time to talk
to the
operator. I wanted to get off the property and get Jason to
safety. As put the car key in the driver’s door . Two gunshots
sounded loudly one after the other.
“Mommy!” Jason screamed, running towards the house. I
grabbed Jason to keep him from going inside the house.
“No, come here Jason! Get in the car.”
Panicked, I picked up the phone and said, “Operator we
need help! Please send someone to 555 Elm Street!”
I backed out so fast I knocked down the mailbox.
“What’s the emergency, ma’am?”
“We heard gun shots.”
“What’s your name and please try to calm down, ma’am.
You said we, who else is with you?”
I was in a state of shocked, I started yelling whatever came
to mind.
“Randy!”
“My name is Jason, not Randy,” he said, looking up at me
with tears in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, baby,” I said patting the back of his hand.
“My name is Keisha Jackson and I’m with a nine year old
boy.”
“Miss Jackson, the police and ambulance are on the way.
Are you still at the house?”
“No, we left,” I said, shaking.
“Ma’am, the police and ambulance were near the address.
They arrived at the house. Who started the fire?”
“Fire? There wasn’t a fire!”
“Ma’am, are you there? Who started the fire?”
“I don’t know,” I said, hysterically.
“The police need you to come down town to the station.”
“Okay. What… what’s the address?” I stuttered.
“2257 Norwood Drive.”
“We’ll be there.”
“Ma’am would you like me to stay on the line until you
arrive?”
“No, I’ll be fine. Thank you.”
I glanced at the fuel gauge and noticed we were low on
gas. I was not about to stop. Jason was finally asleep. He had
sobbed so hard it wore him out.
All I could do was pray his mom was okay. I hoped no one
got hurt, despite the pain and hurt they caused me. Jason
needed his mother. I was not sure what the outcome would be
and I had no way of contacting Jason’s adopted mother. The
last thing I wanted was for child services to be involved.

Ten minutes later, we arrived at the police station. I
was so nervous and felt like I couldn’t breathe. I reached over
and woke Jason up, “Get up baby.” I was afraid of walking
inside, I did not know what to expect.

“Okay little man, it’s time to get this over with,” I said,
looking down at Jason. I looked inside through the outside
door. The lights were dim and the precinct looked run down. I
saw a glimpse of an overweight white man sitting behind the
check-in counter damn near asleep. His face was so red; he
looked like he suffered from a major sunburn.

I struggled pulling the heavy glass door open while
holding Jason’s hand. My body was still sore. Before I asked
any questions, the man interrupted me, “I need you to remove
all metal and open your purse,” he said.

“Shouldn’t you be standing?” I mumbled.
He gave me a long, hard stare then nodded me through.
As I soon as limped past security, I heard someone calling my
name, “Keisha Jackson?” It was the voice of a tall, suited-up,
biracial woman. “Yes. Are you social services?”

Before she could answer, Jason screamed, “Nana!”
“Hey baby,” she smiled, reaching for Jason. “I’m Jason’s foster
mom Anne and this is my neighbor Tom.”

“I saw the news and rushed down here. Once I arrived,
they stated you were on your way to the station. So I waited.”
“Oh okay. They’re supposed to be asking me questions
about tonight’s incident, but I really don’t have the strength to
answer any questions. I’ve been through so much the past few
days. My heart can’t take anymore.”
“No need to wait. I’ve already spoken with the police and
cleared her name. My husband was the police commissioner
before he passed away. I spoke with Zan and she’s fine. She’ll
just run off like she always does, then call me when she’s
down or needs my help to dig herself out of her mess. Most
likely, she’ll collect the insurance money from the house. She
has this thing with setting houses on fire and parking cars in
random places and then reporting them stolen just to collect
the insurance money.”
“Wow. I’m almost lost for words. What about Randy? Did
she mention him at all?”
“No, she didn’t mention anyone else.”
“That’s strange considering they were together when I left
her house. Before tonight, I would have said, ‘That doesn’t
sound like the Zan that I know. Tonight I found out who she
really is,” I said.
I knelt down in from of Jason and gave him a tight
hug. “Be good, okay? Take care of Miss Anne. If you ever need
me, here is my number. Call me anytime.”
“Anytime?” he said sadly.
I smiled. “Anytime.”
“Thank you,” Anne whispered.
I gathered my things and headed towards the door. I wanted
to stop by Randy’s house to get a couple of things before I left
Georgia. I still had unfinished business with him. After thirty
minutes of driving, I arrived at Randy’s place and to my
surprise; the car parked on the side of the road.
“Son of a bitch,” I mumbled.
I hesitated before proceeding towards the door. I dreaded the
confrontation. “Please don’t let him be inside,” I thought.
The closer I got to the screened porch, the more nervous I
became. I opened the squeaky screen door and Chico dashed
out the cracked open front door.
“Hey, girly,” I said, rubbing her ears. She was hyperactive
and never got this excited. The door squeaked as I slowly
pushed it completely open.
“Randy? Are you in here?” The house was dark and cold as
ice. Chico’s poop was splattered all over the floor, the stench
was unbearable. I flipped the light switch up and nothing
happened. I started having flash backs of the attack. The
aroma of his sweat permeated the room.
I walked into the den fearfully. On the coffee table laid a huge
yellow envelope from the hospital’s lab with Randy’s name on
it.
“When did he go to the hospital?” I whispered, opening
up the envelope. No one was in the house so I figured, why
not.
‘Randy Carter, these are your test results,’ I kept
reading, ‘Your chief of complaint was night sweats and
headaches. Diagnosis is…’
“Glad you stopped by!” he said, startling me.
I dropped the envelope and backed up towards the wall.
He appeared out of nowhere. “Randy! You scared me.”
“What are you doing here and why are you going
through my things, Keisha?”
“Are you serious?” I said, calmly. “After all the shit you put
me through? You still want to gripe at me?”
He grabbed my shoulders and said in a desperate tone,
“I messed up. I know you hate me Keisha. Will you ever find it
in your heart to forgive me?” He stared me in the eyes. “Do
you have any idea how much I love you? I gave it all up for
you because I could not see myself hurting you anymore. I
love you girl. I am willing to do whatever it takes to get you
back.”
His eyes teared up. He started getting obsessive and
possessive. “I’m not going to let you leave me!”
“What do you want from me?” I said, shaking. “You
have HIV, Randy! I saw your diagnosis from the hospital.
What can you possibly do for me, other than infect me, if you
already haven’t. I came here to get my things and my puppy. I
had no idea you’d be here. Last time I saw you, I heard gun
shots.”
I shoved him away from me and headed towards the
door, but
he yanked me back towards
him.
He
started
shouting at me, “I shot the gun to scare Zan off. When I
rushed back to
the room, you had already left. The crazy
bitch set the house on fire while I was in it! I managed to
jump out the window and get away. I can’t see myself with
anyone other than you. There will never be another woman
like you. Please… please forgive me. I need you girl.”
I stood there scared to death. He was yelling so loud,
my body jerked after every syllable. His words were like
blows.
“I can’t… I can’t be with you Randy.”
He grabbed my face and backed me up against the
wall. “Now you listen to me! If I can’t have you, no one will.”
He snatched a gun from under his shirt, held it up to
my head, and started crying. “I’m not gone lose you Keisha.
You came back because you love me, didn’t you?”
“Please, don’t do this,” I cried.
“Stop right there!” a woman’s voice yelled.
It startled Randy. He slid the gun behind my back. I
prayed that whoever she was, she saw the gun. Randy moved
to one side of me and I saw it was Kayla. She was standing
there with a gun in her hand, pointing it towards Randy.
“Keisha, are you good?” she asked quickly. She was
standing as if she was Al Pacino ready to shoot.
Randy dug his fingernails into my skin on my arm,
signally me to lie. He whispered in my ear, “Answer her
question baby. Are you good?”
“Yes,” I muttered. “I’m good.”
He aggressively kissed my forehead. “See, my baby is
good. Now get the fuck out of here!”
Kayla was not buying it. She demanded Randy to turn
me lose.” Let her go Randy, now!”
Randy reached towards his pocket. Kayla’s gun went
off, firing two shots. I fell to the floor along with Randy. I
didn’t know if she had shot me or not. I glanced over at
Randy. Blood was squirting out the side of his head.
I grabbed a throw off the sofa and put pressure on the
wound.
“Randy!” I screamed, hovering over him. “Kayla call
911! Randy, talk to me.”
I was getting hysterical. Kayla stood there with her hand
on the trigger. She had no remorse for Randy. Even though he
hurt me, I didn’t want to see him die.
She bent down and placed two fingers on his neck to
check his pulse. “He’s dead, let’s roll,” she said, nonchalant.
“What? We can’t leave him like this!”
“Did he say that when he apparently gave your ass
HIV? Let’s go Keisha!”
I grabbed my keys and ran out the door behind Kayla.
“Wait! I need to get my dog!” I said running back towards the
door. “Come on Chico, come to Momma.”
Grabbing Chico we ran into the street. We jumped into
her raggedy-ass station wagon and fled the scene.
I was racking my brain as to why Kayla was there in the
first place. I was so shaken up. My thoughts were all over the
place.
“Oh my gawd, what just happen? We cannot just leave
him there Kayla!”
Kayla ignored me. She drove through an alley 2 miles
away from Randy’s house and made a stop at an abandoned
building. Two Homeless men were sitting around a bonfire.
They each had a beer in their hands. “I know she doesn’t live
here,” I mumbled to myself.
“I’ll be right back. I need to get my things out of this
hellhole. Don’t speak to anyone and lock the doors.”
I couldn’t decide whether to stay in the car or run like
hell. “Are you in sane? You just killed a man! We must call the
ambulance to get him help!”
“Shut the fuck up Keisha! I’m tired of the bitching and
whining, he slept with your friend and possibly gave you
HIV? I don’t want to hear another word out of you! You got
that?” she said, pointing down at her gun.
“I got it!” I said, wiping my tears. “This bitch is crazy.” I
muttered.
Within
ten
minutes
of
Kayla
walking
towards
the
abandoned building, I saw her running back towards the car.
She had two black duffle bags and a little girl with her. The
little girl looked no more than eight years old. She was
barefoot with a dirty white teddy bear and a Sippy cup in her
hand .
“Get in the back seat Kelsey, hurry!”
“Mommy I’m scared!” she cried.
“I know baby. Fasten your seat belt. He is not going to hurt us
anymore. I promise.” She said.
I was confused. I had enough
of my own problems. Shit, I was better off at the house with
Randy’s crazy ass and his pistol. “Kayla, what’s going on here?
Whose little girl is this?”
“Don’t ask no questions! Shut the fuck up and ride Keisha,
damn! Do you understand me!” she said pointing down at her
gun again.
She didn’t have to tell me a third time. I was tired,
scared and had seen and survived a lot the past couple of days.
I wanted to grab the gun and shoot my damn self.
“I need to make one more stop and I want you to watch
Kelsey while I run inside.”
I turned towards the back seat and glanced at the little
girl. Her eyes were weak. She had specks of blood on her pink
dress. She sat with her legs wide open wearing no underwear,
all I saw were scratches from what looked like fingernails on
her legs all the way to her vagina. It was obvious someone had
seriously harmed this little girl.
“Kayla, we need to get her to the hospital.”
“Mind your business Keisha! If I take her to the
hospital they’ll take my little girl away from me,” she said as
her eyes tears up. “I promised her that I was coming back. I
had to keep my promise.”
I was wondering who she left this little girl with. The
place we picked her up from looked like a crack house. I
wanted to ask more questions but Kayla was very erratic. She
had warned me twice with the gun and I wasn’t taking any
more chances. “Kayla, it is imperative that we get little Kelsey
to the hospital.”
She ignored me and kept driving. She didn’t take her
eyes off the road.
Sometime later, we drove up to an old run down hotel.
I had never seen so many black, homeless folks in my life.
They were hanging off the balcony screaming, “Aye shawty let
me hold sum. Help a brother out!”
“Kayla, what kind of hotel is this?” I said, looking around
in disbelief.
“Stay in the car. I’ll be back in five minutes.” Kayla jumped
out of the car and stayed inside for almost twenty minutes.
I grabbed my purse and searched for my phone. “I need to call
the cops,” I mumbled.
I felt so sorry for the little girl. I knew what it was like to
be in the system. I didn’t want that for her. “Maybe I should
take her with me,” I whispered.
It took me a long while to decide, but I finally picked
the phone up to dial. A call came across the screen from the
pay-as-you-go-phone that I had Kayla investigate for me.
After everything I went through, I really did not give a shit. I
was
curious
to know
who it was. I hesitated and then
answered, “Hello.”
“Did anyone call this number?” I disconnected the line.
“Well I’ll be damned. What is really going on?” I
muttered. “A man is the anonymous caller?” I said, shaking my
head. “Maybe it was someone he owed money.”
I looked back at the little girl; she had sadness in her
eyes. I felt bad that I had to leave her, but not before I called
the cops. Her eyes teared up as I gathered my things.
“Don’t go!” she shouted. She reached her hand out at
me. She wanted me to take her with me.
“I’m sorry sweetheart I can’t take you with me. Your
mommy is going to take care of you. Are you okay with that?”
“No,” She said, with sadness. “She never takes care of me!”
“I’m sorry baby. I can’t take you with me. I promise that I
will get you some help. Okay?”
“I want to go with you, please!” she said, wiping her tears.
I was tempted and in my indecision, I ran out of time. I
glanced up and Kayla was hurrying towards the car. I noticed
her fixing her hair and adjusting her clothes.
Getting in she said, “I have five hundred dollars. This will
take us west.”
Looking back at the little girl she said, “What’s wrong?
Why are you crying Kelsey?”
“I want a real home. I don’t want to live like this anymore
mommy. I don’t like the old men anymore! No more touching
and kissing me!”
Kayla eyes filled with tears. She was so taken aback,
she barely spoke. She unfasten her seat belt and jumped in the
back seat to comfort little Kelsey. “I’m sorry baby girl. I’m
sorry that I left you in that bad place. Mommy will explain
everything to you once we get to our new home. Okay?” she
said, kissing the child’s forehead.
“Promise?” Kelsey said, looking up at her.
“Pinkie promise,” Kayla said, poking out her pinkie finger.
Their conversation really touched my heart. I was not
mentioning shit about my decision to call the cops. I just
needed her to get me to my destination.
“Kayla, do you mind dropping me off at the bus station?
I’ve decided that I’m moving to Florida.”
“Why?” she said. “Do you have family there?”
“No. I just want to start my life over; leave all the
drama behind me and focus on finding my sister.”
“Well, I made five hundred dollars and that’s enough
for Kelsey and me. I cannot help you with money. I’m sorry.”
She said, looking straight ahead.
“That’s okay. I have a couple of dollars. I’ll manage.” I
pulled my compact out to fix my hair. In my mirror I watches
the tears pour down little Kelsey’s face. The little girl was
damned. Her mother had made so many promises and never
kept her
word.
She had no reason to believe
her
mom
anymore.
“Poor little girl. I pray that Kayla keeps her word this
time,” I thought to myself.
I stretched my legs and made my coat into a ball. As
soon as I got relaxed and comfortable in the car, old shit came
up. “Keisha, there is something that I need to tell you.”
I didn’t feel like hearing the nonsense, I couldn’t care less.
“What’s up?” I said, not opening my eyes.