Family Over Everything (8 page)

Nodding, he smiled as he said, “I promise.”

Day'onne and Menace stood on the corner of Chicago Street, selling product to several drug addicts, who stood in line. For the past two weeks, both boys had been breaking down, cooking, bagging, and selling the product that they'd stolen from Jewels. The cocaine was pure, fresh from the Cubans, and the addicts wanted more and more, making Day'onne and Menace's pockets heavier and heavier. In the short amount of time they'd been selling, both boys had made more than twenty thousand dollars apiece.

Day'onne's hair was twisted to perfection and his pockets were swollen. Dressed in a fresh pair of black-and-gray Adidas, baggy cargo shorts, and a black Ralph Lauren collared shirt, he rubbed his hands together and licked his lips. Menace, on the other hand, wore crisp white Pumas, khaki cargo pants, and an all-white Lacoste collared shirt. His usually matted hair was now cut into a temple fade, giving him a clean-cut look.

Ever since their transformation had taken place, most of Northview had taken heed.

“Hey, Day'onne,” a young girl named Philicia said, smiling from ear to ear.

Philicia and her best friend, Tamika, stood in front of Day'onne and Menace, dressed scantily in short shorts and belly shirts. The skimpy outfits exposed their stacked physiques, causing Day'onne's and Menace's mouths to water.

“What's up, ma?” Day'onne asked as he bit his lip.

“What y'all getting into today?”

“Let's cut to the chase; fuck the bullshit, girl. Are we fucking?” Menace bluntly asked Tamika.

Without hesitation, she smiled and held out her hand, allowing him to take it. He licked his lips and walked her into his apartment, with Day'onne and Philicia following after them. Philicia
and Tamika tried to mask their disappointment when they walked into Menace's dirty, roach-infested house.

“Manny, who the hell is these hood rats?” Sharonda, his mother, yelled, addressing him by his birth name.

She was sprawled out on the sofa, naked and sniffing her daily drugs, which only angered him.

“Get the fuck out of here, you nasty bitch!” he spat coldly, grabbing her by her hair and dragging her out of the house.

She wailed out a loud scream as she kicked and clawed at him. When he finally had her out of the house, he went back to doing his business.

“My bad about that, but y'all ready?”

Philicia and Tamika looked at each other and nodded. Troy, Menace's younger brother, wasn't home, so Day'onne took Philicia into his room, while Menace took Tamika into his room and grabbed her by her shoulders and aggressively started to undress her.

“Calm down, boy! You acting like you never got no pussy before!” Tamika yelled.

Menace, who was a virgin, ignored her as he pulled down his shorts and boxers.

“Wait, where the condom at?” she asked, placing her hand on his chest.

“I don't have one.” He shrugged as he laid her on his bed and positioned himself in between her legs.

“Wait, dude! No glove, no love!”

He ignored her, grabbed the base of his penis and entered her. She moaned as a wave of pain and pleasure gripped her with each stroke. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he experienced the first feeling of sex.

“Oh, shit!” he yelled, ejaculating into her.

She twisted her mouth up in disgust as he collapsed on top of her with his chest heaving in and out.

“Damn, that's it? Where's my money?” she asked, holding out her hand.

“Money? What money?” he asked, confused.

“It cost money to beat up on this pussy. That'll be three hundred.”

He shook his head, bursting out in loud, hysterical laughter. “Bitch, you done lost your last mind. Get the fuck out of here!” he said, grabbing her by her hair.

She cried as he pulled her out of his bedroom by her long hair. Hearing her loud screams, Philicia came running out of the other room.

“What's going on?” she asked, pulling up her pants.

“You and this bitch done lost y'all fucking minds if y'all think we're paying y'all to fuck. Both of y'all, get the fuck out my spot!” Menace barked.

Philicia quickly buttoned her pants and ran out the front door, behind Tamika.

Day'onne, who sat in Troy's bed with a stiff-on, shook his head in frustration as he got up to leave, too.

“Where you going?” Menace asked.

“Getting me some fucking pussy! I'll be back!”

Ten minutes later, Day'onne walked into his house.

He checked each room, making sure there wasn't anyone home except for Corrine.

When he was sure she was the only one in the house, he walked into her bedroom. Corrine, who was sound asleep, awoke from the sounds of the floor creaking. She clutched her teddy bear tightly as she looked into Day'onne's coal eyes.

“Please don't do this,” Corrine cried.

Day'onne ignored her as he began to undress and climbed in
the bed with her. She lay on top of her twin-sized mattress, eyes closed tightly and trembling in fear. She felt his cold hands grip at her ankles before forcefully spreading her legs apart. He yanked her Barbie gown above her waist and ripped her underwear off.

Her legs shook as she tried to remain calm. She held her hands between her legs, struggling to control her bladder. But before she knew it, it got the best of her, and she peed on herself.

“You nasty bitch,” Day'onne said, backhanding her.

Tears tumbled down her cheeks as her face jerked forcefully to the left.

Day'onne ignored her cries and cupped his hands over her mouth, muffling her screams. He positioned himself between her legs and forcefully penetrated her.

Corrine released a low, painful moan as she shifted under him and tried to kick him off of her, but it was to no avail. He held her arms over her head and continued to rape her.

His face was the mask of a demon as he stared into her eyes, loving the pain he brought with each violating stroke. She closed her eyes tightly, avoiding eye contact. Realizing once again that her struggling and cries wouldn't save her, all the fight she had left in her body evaporated. She withdrew into herself and imagined she was somewhere else.

When he finished, he leaned over and whispered into her ear. “You know you enjoyed that shit, you dirty hoe. Remember what I always told you, you ain't shit but a hoe.”

He collapsed on top of her small body and lay there for a few minutes, trying to catch his breath. Silent and in pain, she watched her brother climb off of her, put his clothes back on, and calmly walk out of her bedroom.

She curled into a fetal position as an agonizing scream escaped from her lips. A few minutes later, she collected all of the
strength she had within and climbed out of her bed. Stepping out of her bloody pajama dress, she threw it into the closet and grabbed a towel before wrapping it around her. Painfully walking out of her bedroom and into the bathroom, she winced in pain with every step she took and closed the door behind her.

Unwrapping the towel from around herself and turning the sink on, she dampened it before taking a bar of soap and lathering the towel. A slew of tears cascaded down her cheeks as she spread her legs and rubbed the damp cloth between them. Her chest heaving with sobs, she turned the sink off, wrapped the towel back around her body, and walked out of the bathroom.

“What happened to you?” Deion asked when she came out.

Deion, who'd just gotten back from playing basketball with Jarell, heard her crying in the bathroom as he was making his way to his bedroom.

When she looked up at him, he saw that she was distraught as he walked closer to her, but she backed away in fear.

“Please don't hurt me, Day'onne!” she cried.

Deion's heart almost broke into pieces as a tear escaped from his eyes. “Corrine, it's me, Deion! What did he do to you, girl?” he asked, wiping his eyes.

Blinded by her tears, her body started to shudder as she collapsed to the floor. Deion walked over, picked her up, and carried her to her room. He felt her tense up when he gently placed her into her bed. When he noticed the blood stains in her bed, he asked, “What happened?”

“He hurt me, Deion. He hurt me down there,” she said, pointing at her vagina.

“Why didn't you tell me, Corrine? Why didn't you tell me or Melissa?” he asked as he clenched his jaw.

“He said he'll kill me! Please don't tell Momma! Please, he's
going to kill me!” she yelled in fear before grabbing Deion by his arm and shaking it.

He took a deep breath, digesting everything she'd confessed to him. “I have to tell! He's going to keep hurting you if I don't!”

“But he said he'll kill me. Please don't tell!”

Blinded by anger, he balled his hands into tight fists before punching numerous holes into the wall, instantly drawing blood.

Corrine's loud screams brought him back to reality.

“Stop! Please stop!” she cried, wrapping her arms around her head and burying her face into her lap.

He dropped his head into his hands before walking back to Corrine.

“You can't tell, Deion! He'll kill me. Please promise,” she cried.

Taking a deep breath and mustering all the strength he had in his body, he nodded. “Okay, I won't tell. I promise.”

Reaching out her hand, she said, “Pinky swear?”

“Pinky swear,” Deion said, wrapping his pinky finger around hers.

M
elissa arrived at Asbury Heights Nursing Home Facility in Bower Hill, Pennsylvania around three in the afternoon. She wore a floral, ankle-length dress with a pink cardigan sweater. Stepping out of her old station wagon, she took a deep breath as she walked inside and signed in.

When she finally made her way to her mother's front door, she paused to mentally and physically prepare herself for what was behind it. Her mother, Yolanda, who was battling liver cancer, gazed up at Melissa as she walked through the door. Melissa scanned the room, looking at pictures of her and her mother when she was younger. When her eyes roamed to her mother, her lips quivered and hands trembled as she scooted up a nearby chair next to her bed.

“Hey, Momma.”

Yolanda tried her best to smile, but it was to no avail. She was in too much pain.

“How are you? Everything's good at home. The twins are getting bigger and so is Corrine. Corrine is beautiful. Remember Corrine?”

Yolanda nodded and Melissa continued, “Momma, I'm trying my best to keep you in here and take care of the kids. It's getting hard, it really is. With crazy Day'onne out here robbing everybody and their momma, to the government trying to cut my welfare checks, it's getting hard, Momma!”

“Pray, baby,” Yolanda said, her voice barely a whisper.

“Pray? But Momma, I do that all the time! I can't take it! I'm getting too old for this, Momma! I can't take it!” Melissa said before dropping her head into her hands and crying.

All of her life, she'd helped people, putting their needs before hers, and it was finally getting to her. She never had a real man in her life and never knew what the true feeling of happiness felt like. Since she would be approaching fifty soon, she wanted to finally settle down and be happy, but that was only in her dreams.

Yolanda struggled to speak. “Baby . . .God is going to bless . . .you.”

Melissa slowly lifted her head up to look into her mother's eyes.

“He loves you, baby. Keep your faith.”

Taking heed of her mother's words, she wiped her tears and forced herself to smile. Yolanda, who had been battling the deadly disease for two years, weakly held her daughter's hand. If anyone recognized pain, it was definitely her.

She had been raised in poverty and tried her best to keep her faith and belief in God through all of the trials and tribulations she'd gone through in this cruel world.

Raped by her father and abused by her mother all of her life, Yolanda had done whatever it took to survive in the streets of Pittsburgh. When she got pregnant at sixteen by a man she had sex with one night, who later disappeared, her mother kicked her out of her house, forcing her to live in the streets. While she was pregnant with Melissa, she prostituted her body in order to save up enough money to get her a house. When a friend of the family finally agreed to rent her a house up Northview, she felt blessed. When Melissa was born, she raised her daughter the right way, making sure she always had respect for not only herself, but for other people, too.

Looking at Yolanda, Melissa couldn't help but think that the clock was ticking. Every day, she got a call from the nursing home, alerting her that Yolanda's health was steadily decreasing. When she was finally ready to leave, she kissed her mother goodbye.

When Melissa arrived back up Northview, in a much better mood, she was smiling and feeling good. Pulling her keys from her purse, she unlocked her door and stepped into her apartment. Finding it unusually dark and cold, she felt uneasy.