Authors: Allison Hobbs
B
efore Terelle and Saleema had taken one step toward leaving, they heard muffled voices. A light of hope shone in Terelle’s eyes. The door that patrons of Dave & Buster’s used to enter the garage was pushed open from the inside. They could now hear the voices more clearly, a feminine tone and Marquise’s unmistakable deep rumbling voice.
“Duck!” Terelle pulled Saleema down to a squat as they concealed themselves behind a dark-colored Durango that looked like it hadn’t been washed since the last snowstorm. It was parked several rows away from the Benz but was close enough for them to spy on the couple. Crouched against the filthy SUV, one knee touching the grimy oil-stained concrete, Terelle tightly gripped the handle of the knife.
Terelle could hear Kai’s heels clicking against the asphalt. She inched up and stretched her neck to see, but instantly wished she had not. The sight of Marquise with his arm placed protectively around Kai was like a kick in the stomach. Kai, elegantly attired from her earrings down to her boots, was swinging a handbag adorned with beautiful beads, shimmering shells and gleaming precious gems. The handbag alone looked as if it cost more than all the gear in Terelle’s closet.
Terelle frowned down at her Value City-purchased sweats. Never had she felt so flawed. A feeling of hopelessness washed over her. How could she compete with that rich bitch?
“I’m sorry, but I’m famished. I can’t even think about playing those silly games until I’ve been fed. Are you gonna feed me?” Kai asked in child-like playful tone. She looked up at Marquise with adoration. Marquise brushed her curls from her face. The intimacy between them spoke of a relationship that had developed over time—a period when Terelle no doubt had been inexcusably neglected. Betrayed.
It took tremendous effort for Terelle not to just break down and cry.
“We coulda ate in there and I coulda got my game on,” Marquise said, laughing. Nothing about his demeanor or tone indicated that he was with Kai against his will.
Listening to her fiancé bantering with another woman was causing Terelle to lose her grip on reality. She was liable at any moment to spring up and confront the illicit lovers, wielding wildly Marquise’s knife.
“Why should I eat that game room garbage when Hibachi, which is one of my favorite restaurants, is right next door? You can play as many games as you want after we have a civilized meal. Okay, Sweetie?”
Sweetie!
Terelle was ready to slaughter the social worker, but had to restrain herself. Timing was everything. If she expected to successfully scar Kai for life, she’d have to choose the right moment.
“She talks like a white girl,” Saleema whispered and wrinkled her face in disgust.
“Shh!” Terelle held a silencing finger to her lips; she didn’t want to miss even a snippet of Kai and Marquise’s conversation.
“I ain’t down wit no ching-chong food,” Marquise said.
Apparently looking for the car key, Kai stopped walking and began to fiddle inside her Miu Miu handbag. “For your information, Hibachi serves Japanese food—not Chinese. There’s a difference, you know! It’s a shame we have to move the car and drive somewhere else when we could walk right over there and enjoy some sushi or tempura. You should try to expand your horizons. Damn, you’re such a meat and potatoes type…but don’t worry, I love you anyway.” Kai puckered up, stood on her toes and waited for a kiss.
Marquise obliged with a quick peck, then said, “You think eatin’ raw fish is better than ching-chong food? Yo, them chinks be addin’ dead cats in the mix—pretending it’s chicken…and the Japs be servin’ up food that ain’t even cooked.” He smiled and shook his head. “But, I ain’t gonna lie—I fucks wit Chinese every now and then, but I ain’t nevah gonna eat no raw damn fish!”
“Is that so?” Kai sounded coy as she fingered her curls coquettishly. “Well, how do you explain last night? You seemed to enjoy eating this fish raw.” She nudged her chin down toward her crotch.
“Oh, aiight. You win that round.” Marquise’s laughter echoed throughout the parking lot. He eyed Kai’s crotch hungrily as if he were ready to bury his head between her legs on the spot.
“Did you hear that?” Saleema asked, astounded. “That nigga’s talkin’ ’bout eatin’ that bitch’s pussy! I can’t take much more of this. If you don’t get off your knees and put your foot up that bitch’s ass, I’m gonna fuck
you
up. I’m not playin’, Terelle. Go handle your business.” Saleema pushed Terelle’s shoulder.
The situation was beyond fucked up. Terelle was crushed. Her eyes glistened with tears as she recalled Marquise’s unwillingness to participate in oral sex. Oh, it was okay for her to go down on him, but eating pussy, he’d said was for suckers who had to compensate for their little dicks. Inexplicably, she felt responsible for Marquise going astray. She felt ashamed of herself for lacking the qualities that would keep him faithful. She felt ashamed that Marquise had tasted the juices of a stranger and had never gone down on her. But that shame quickly switched to anger…and then rage.
With knife in hand, Terelle raised up from her haunches.
“Slow your roll,” Saleema cautioned in a whispery voice as she pressed Terelle’s shoulder, forcing her friend back into a squat. “Marquise ain’t gonna just stand there and let you slice Sis up.”
“Make up your fuckin’ mind, Saleema! You don’t know what you want me to do.” Terelle’s face was twisted in fury and confusion.
“I’m just sayin’…if you wanna do some real damage without worrying about Quise interfering, then you’re gonna have to blast that bitch.” Saleema produced a silver .22. Her eyes implored Terelle to take the gun.
“I can’t,” Terelle cried, shuddering as she shrank away from the gleaming revolver.
“I’m not telling you to slump the bitch, but if she’d done that slimy shit to me, I’d blast that bitch in the head.” Saleema closed her eyes and shook her head. “Girl, that hooker would have to take a dirt nap; they’d be chalkin’ her body right the hell now. But that’s me.” Saleema shrugged. “You gotta do it your way—do whatchu gotta do. Pop her in the arm…leg…or somewhere. But, you gotta let Sis know that you ain’t the one to be fucked with. You dig?”
Terelle nodded. She extended an open palm. In truth, she no longer feared the gun; she now feared the repercussions that firing a weapon and injuring someone could bring. She feared doing time in prison while Markeeta was left in the hands of Children and Youth Services, an agency that had failed Terelle as a child and continued to fail the children it promised to protect.
No,
she thought emphatically. She could not rely on anyone in her fucked-up family to take care of her daughter and she would never put her innocent child through the horror of the foster care system.
“Fuck it! Let’s go,” she said suddenly. “I’m not gonna play myself like this; let Marquise have that yella bitch. It’s time for me to move on.” She laid the gun on Saleema’s lap and began to stand. Trying to regain some dignity, she stood straight and proud. She turned to take one last look at the man who’d been the love of her life and what she saw made the blood drain from her face. Terelle blinked rapidly for her eyes seemed unfocused. With a trembling hand, she covered her gaping mouth to muffle the scream building in her throat.
“What the fuck is goin’ on?” Saleema asked as she sprang up from behind the Durango. With widened eyes, she uttered in shock, “Oh my God!”
The scene before them seemed surreal. Kai was bent over the hood of her car, her skirt hitched up around her waist, her bare ass tooted up in the air while Marquise penetrated from behind.
The man humping Kai was not the Marquise Terelle knew and loved. This man seemed primitive in his execution of this age-old ritual. His tongue hung over his slackened lower lip while he grunted like a depraved sub-human. He was definitely not himself; he was entranced. Marquise, Terelle told herself, would never disgrace himself by copulating outside like an animal. That bitch had some kind of power over him and that power was about to end!
Terelle jerked around toward Saleema and stuck out her hand. “Give me the gun!” Her eyes were cold, her face was tight with rage.
Saleema handed her the gun. “Wait,” Saleema warned. “You can’t get a clear shot; Quise is in the way.”
Terelle ignored Saleema. She had to reclaim her man. Fuck shooting her in the shoulder and fuck shooting the bitch’s legs, Terelle concentrated and focused her aim on Kai’s head.
With her face pressed into the hood, Kai’s curls wiggled like snakes as Marquise rode her.
Terelle pulled the trigger. And in one swift horrible moment, Marquise repositioned himself as he bent to grip Kai’s shoulders.
Terelle screamed, “Marquise!”
“Oh shit! You shot Quise!” Saleema grabbed the gun from Terelle. She quickly wiped it with her Gucci scarf and tossed it. The gun made a deafening clatter as it hit the asphalt and slid toward Kai who was screaming hysterically as she tried to shake Marquise’s heavy body off her.
Having heard the gunshot and fearing for her own safety, the parking attendant ran screaming from her post.
Terelle stood trancelike, staring at Marquise’s fallen body.
“Come on.” Saleema yanked Terelle’s arm. Dragging a sobbing and resistive Terelle by the wrist, Saleema tugged and yanked until she and Terelle were safely past the attendant’s empty booth and out of the garage.
“Come on; we gotta get outta here!” Saleema spoke authoritatively as she held Terelle’s wrist in a death grip.
Dragging her feet, Terelle cried for Marquise. She tried to pull away. “Let me go. I gotta go back; I gotta help Quise. Let me go, Saleema,” she pleaded.
There was no way of determining Marquise’s physical status, but needing to flee the scene immediately, Saleema blurted, “Quise is all right. I saw him stand up. The bullet probably just grazed him. Now, come on. We gotta get outa here before we both get locked up.”
Unwilling to listen to reason, Terelle tried to jerk away again.
“Do you want to lose Keeta?” Saleema asked desperately.
“
Markeeta
.” Terelle whispered her daughter’s name as if just remembering her existence. “You know I don’t wanna lose Markeeta.”
“Well, that’s what’s gonna happen if you don’t get your ass moving.”
Terelle started moving.
“Walk fast—don’t run. We don’t want to look suspicious,” Saleema cautioned.
Terelle complied and dutifully followed Saleema to the narrow street where the SUV was parked.
They hopped inside Jezebel. Saleema shot out of the parking spot and merged inconspicuously into the traffic on Columbus Boulevard.
Startled by the sudden sound of a siren, the two friends gasped in unison.
“Oh fuck!” Saleema yelled. She turned the steering wheel to pull over.
Burying her face in her hands, Terelle began a litany of prayers. “Please God, I know I haven’t talked to you in a long time and I’m sorry. Please let Quise be all right. Oh Lord, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to abandon you and I didn’t mean to hurt Marquise…I’d die before I’d hurt Marquise.”
When she took her hands away from her face, streaks of dirt and oil picked up from the floor of the garage covered her face.
Saleema cut her eye at Terelle and raised a brow. Terelle’s ponytail had come undone during the fracas; it was a tangled mess. There was black grease all over her face giving her the look of a deranged performer in a minstrel show. In addition, since Terelle did not believe in prayer, Saleema could only conclude that her girl was losing it.
Incredibly, the siren did not emanate from a police car as Saleema had assumed. An ambulance with flickering lights and an unrelenting wail whizzed past and turned into Dave & Buster’s garage.
Terelle shot a look at Saleema with fearful eyes.
Determined to put as much distance as possible between the SUV and the garage, Saleema pushed the accelerator to the floor and roared away from the scene of the crime.
S
omeone was trying to kill her! There was that frightening popping sound and a split second later, she’d heard a woman scream. Then Marquise collapsed on top of her. The dangling buckle of his belt dug into her back—hurting her. His body seemed to weigh a ton and she couldn’t shake him off.
“Marquise?” she whispered. The silence was deafening. From her helpless position, frantic with fear and perspiring heavily, she looked around trying to make some sense of this absurd situation.
Is this really happening?
Kai wondered as she finally mustered the strength to throw Marquise’s seemingly lifeless body off her. He hit the concrete hard. Kai gawked at him unbelievingly, but her sense of survival outweighed a desire to investigate his condition. While swiftly adjusted her rumpled clothing, something shiny caught her eye. Amazingly, a small silver gun glimmered before her. Figuring the shooter had dropped it and perhaps had another larger and more lethal weapon of destruction handy, Kai picked up the gun.
Determined to protect herself from whoever was out there trying to kill her, she fully intended to shoot now and ask questions later. She spun around and pointed the gun at anything that appeared to move.
Desperate thoughts flooded her mind. Who were her enemies—whom had she hurt?
Reece!
The convicted rapist instantly sprang to mind.
But…n
o his imprisonment ruled him out.
Kenneth?
He’d certainly threatened her. But no, he’d never become this unhinged over a scratched car.
LaVella!
Hell no! That pathetic cow didn’t have the heart for this.
And then it struck her:
Terelle
! A feeling of dread coursed through her. Damn! Had she known the love-crazed ghetto girl was unstable, she would have never sent the incriminating photo.
“Leave me alone; don’t come any closer,” she yelled. With one trembling hand she dug into her handbag and pushed 9-1-1 while pivoting and jerkily pointing the gun with the other. Uncertainly, she aimed at the shadows cast by parked cars, pillars, and even headlights from outside the garage. Everything was suspect.
“Is there an emergency?” asked a discarnate voice inside Kai’s handbag. She jumped at the sound, then realizing that help was soon on the way, she gathered her wits about her and took the phone out and placed it on her ear.
“Yes, someone’s hurt. He’s been shot,” Kai whimpered. “Send the police…hurry. Someone’s trying to kill me!”
“Who, ma’am? Who’s trying to kill you?” asked the emergency dispatcher.
“How the fuck do I know? Send the police. NOW!” she screamed.
“Calm down, ma’am. You mentioned someone was shot…is the person still breathing?”
“I don’t know,” Kai stated impatiently. She wanted to check on Marquise, who was ominously silent, but she dared not avert her gaze. Crazy-ass Terelle was possibly still hidden inside the garage.
“Check on him, ma’am. Find out if there’s a pulse,” the voice instructed.
Without taking her focus off the shadows, Kai stretched out a leg and jabbed Marquise in the side with the toe of her boot. She glanced down briefly. There was blood on her boot.
“He’s dead! He’s dead!” she screeched. “What the fuck are you waiting for, you bitch? I need help…quick…before she kills me too!”
“There’s no need for profanity, ma’am. Now, tell me calmly…who’s trying to kill you?”
Before Kai could give the woman Terelle’s name, address and any other fucking bit of information she needed, she glimpsed a female figure. The woman seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Kai’s scream resonated through the garage. Hysterical, she dodged behind her car and began scrambling inside her handbag for the elusive car key. She was no longer willing to place her life in the hands of some 9-1-1 moron. If she were to survive, Kai realized she had to take a chance and get out of the garage. However, despite her desperation, she made a mental note to later deal with that ignoramus who obviously hadn’t bothered to read the manual provided for emergency dispatchers. Kai would make sure the inept woman was severely disciplined. Yes, that blithering idiot could just kiss her job goodbye. Kai would personally see to it!
Refusing to stand still and offer herself as an unmoving target for Terelle, whom she perceived as a trigger-happy thug-girl with nothing to lose, Kai miraculously retrieved her car key; and jumped inside her car. The woman she assumed to be Terelle was now running toward her. Flooring it, Kai reversed out of the narrow parking spot.
The female parking attendant who had run to the scene with a male security guard close behind became winded. She bent over to catch her breath and let out a chilling scream. She covered her face in horror as she witnessed a black Benz back out of a parking spot and deliberately crush a disabled man.
Kai grimaced at the appalling crunching sound made when she accidentally rolled over Marquise’s legs. That mishap, however, did not deter her speedy getaway from the woman she believed to be Terelle.