“
Why not?” Koran eyed her perplexed.
“
I’m having a shot of Patron.”
“
Man, please, you made it seem like you was talkin’ about something.” He waved her off. “I’ll have two shots of Patron,” he said to the waiter.
“
Bring me out another as well,” McKinley said to the server, too.
“
So this how we doing it?” Koran grinned.
“
Might as well,” McKinley shrugged her shoulders.
Seconds later their waiter returned with their drinks and placed them on the table before them.
“
Okay, here we go.” McKinley held up her shot glass.
“
Cheers!” Koran tapped his glass against hers then quickly guzzled it down.
McKinley did the same.
“
Whew,” she grimaced, shaking her head.
“
You think you can handle another?” Koran smiled mischievously.
“
I can handle anything you can dish out.”
XoXo
The following morning McKinley awoke in a drunken haze. Lying on her back, she gazed up at the ceiling, which seemed to be moving from side to side. Feeling nauseated, she quickly snapped her eyes shut again.
Where am I,
she thought. The seven tequila shots from the night before had completely clouded her memory. The only thing she knew for sure was that she felt disgusting. There was crust in the corners of her eyes and her tongue and lips were dry.
She couldn’t wait to get to a toothbrush and a wash cloth. Figuring it was best she got up and pieced the last ten hours of her life together, McKinley reopened her eyes and pulled back the covers. To her shock and dismay she found that she was stark naked.
“
What the hell?” she uttered, pulling the covers back over her.
Then out of nowhere she heard the sound of a loud snort and realized that she wasn’t alone. Scrunching her forehead, McKinley gradually turned her head to the right and found a toned muscular back facing her.
Umm
, she thought as a still-sleeping Koran turned over and faced her.
Oh, my God, I slept with the guy from the restaurant.
“
Oh, my God,” she groaned, running her hands down her face. “What were you thinking, McKinley,” she whispered.
Out of nowhere, as if an alarm was set off inside of her, McKinley remembered her flight.
“
Shit,” she shrieked, jumping out of the bed.
Yes, she was mortified by her drunken rendezvous with the stranger, but she’d deal with that later. There was no way on God’s green earth that she was missing her flight. She couldn’t; after that day she had no place to stay. Quietly, McKinley searched the hotel room for her things. She and Koran’s clothes and shoes were thrown about, all over the room.
Locating her bra, which was by the door, she bent over to pick it up, but a wave of dizziness swarmed her head.
I will never drink tequila again,
she swore, standing up straight. With as much speed as she could muster, McKinley whizzed around the room, gathering and putting on her things. Minutes later, she was fully dressed and ready to go. With her hand on the knob, she glanced over her shoulder at Koran who was still asleep.
She wondered if she should at least say good-bye. But what kind of good-bye would it be?
Hey, it was nice having sex with you. I’ll see you later
or
glad we fucked; too bad we’ll never see each other again.
Deciding that saying good-bye wasn’t the best idea, McKinley stared at him a second more. The sight of his handsome face, lying there looking so peaceful brought back memories of Jamil. She knew that it was dumb, being as though Jamil was a lying, cheating whore, but she couldn’t help but feel like she was betraying him.
Hell, the man had just died a couple of weeks before. Besides, sleeping with Koran had just been another mistake to add to her list of fuck-ups in life. Remembering her flight, McKinley shrugged her shoulders and opened the door, vowing that from that moment forward she would do everything in her power to get her life back on track.
XoXo
McKinley said a silent prayer to God, thanking Him for allowing her to make it to the airport in just enough time to board the plane. It had been a race against the clock, but she made it. Sitting in her seat, she turned her cell phone off and placed it inside her purse. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back and turned it to the side facing the window. The hangover she was nursing was kicking her ass. She couldn’t wait for the plane to take off, so she could ask a flight attendant for some aspirins. What McKinley didn’t know was that in a few seconds her headache was about to take a turn from bad to worst.
“
Excuse me,” Koran said, easing his way down the aisle.
He’d barely made it to the airport. If it wasn’t for his daughter calling him to say good morning he’d probably still be asleep. He just knew that when he woke up McKinley would still be by his side, but to his surprise she was already gone. He wondered had it all been a dream. Maybe he’d conjured the whole thing up in his head. All he knew for sure was that he had to get home to his baby girl.
Koran found his seat, which was in the very back of the plane.
Goddamnit, I got the aisle seat
, he thought. Koran hated the aisle seat. Flight attendants were always bumping into him and he couldn’t see out the window good. Since he refused to check in luggage, Koran opened the overhead compartment and squeezed his bag inside. Dying to sit down and relax, he sat down next to the young lady who lucked up and got a window seat. As Koran adjusted himself in his seat his left elbow accidently nudged the woman.
“
Sorry,” he said as she turned and looked at him with disdain.
“
You!” McKinley sat up surprised.
“
Me?” Koran shot back.
“
Yeah, you.” McKinley rolled her neck. “What the hell are you doing here? Are you some kind of stalker or something?”
“
Man, please, you wish.” Koran waved her off. “I’m heading home to St. Louis.”
“
Okay, now this is too much. I’m heading home to St. Louis, too. You sure you’re not no hired hit man?” McKinley looked around nervously.
Maybe whoever killed Jamil was planning on killing her next.
“
If I was would I tell you?” Koran shot sarcastically.
“
This is some bullshit,” McKinley said, outraged.
“
You can say that again,” Koran agreed.
“
Everyone, please fasten your seatbelts Delta Airlines, flight sixty-eight, leaving Miami, Florida and heading to Atlanta, Georgia is preparing for takeoff. Please turn off all electronic devices.”
“
So, you’re trying to tell me that none of this was planned?” McKinley said in a low tone while buckling her seat belt.
“
That you didn’t seek me out on purpose and that you didn’t book a seat on the same flight as me on purpose? This is just all purely coincidental?” She eyed him skeptically.
“
Yes,” Koran replied annoyed.
“
I don’t care nothin’ about you having an attitude. I’m tryin’ to make sure you’re not out to kill me.”
“
The question is, why are you so concerned with somebody tryin’ to kill you?” Koran stared at her.
McKinley sat speechless. There was no way she was gonna tell him about Jamil.
“
That’s beside the point,” she huffed. “Did somebody hire you to kill me or what?” she shouted, causing everyone on the plane to turn around.
“
Will you shut the fuck up?” Koran clasped his hand over her mouth. “Everything’s fine, she’s just rehearsing for a play she’s in, sorry,” he assured the other passengers.
Once everyone was settled back into their seats, Koran released his hand from McKinley’s mouth.
“
I hope your hands are clean.” She screwed up her face.
“
Fuck all of that. Let me tell you something.” Koran pulled her close to him and whispered into her ear. “If I wanted you dead you’d be dead by now, so you can stop wit’ all that rah rah. Now sit yo’ ass back and enjoy the fuckin’ ride.”
“
Well, excuse me. You don’t have to be rude,” McKinley scoffed as the plane took off on the runway
McKinley gripped the arms of the seat tight. She hated flying. The thought of being that high up in the air with no safety net was terrifying. McKinley squeezed her eyes tight and repeated to herself “Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God!”
Koran glanced over at her and noticed her chanting. Because she was holding on to the seat so tight, her knuckles were stark white. Koran wanted to be a dick and ignore her whining, but every time he gazed at her thoughts of his late wife, Whitney, appeared. She hated to fly, too.
“
Are you gon’ be doin’ this the whole flight?” he asked.
“
Doing what?” McKinley opened her right eye.
“
Whining.”
“
I’m not whining. I’m praying. Something you obviously know nothin’ about,” she snapped.
Koran ignored her comment and said, “Whatever you doing, can you stop? It’s gettin’ on my nerves.”
“
Oh, my God, you are such a jerk. You’ve never met someone who’s afraid of takeoff?” McKinley asked.
“
At least they appreciated my help.” He thought back to Whitney again.
“
How are you helping me? By being an asshole?” McKinley quipped.
Koran ignored her sarcasm. “Just say thank you.”
“
Say thank you for what?” McKinley looked at him confused.
“
Look.” He pointed toward the window.
McKinley looked out the window and realized that they were no longer taking off, but in the air, surrounded by a sea of clouds.
“
Now say thank you.” Koran placed his head back, closed his eyes and smiled.
“
I wish I would.” McKinley rolled her eyes.
“
That’s cool. Don’t ask me for help no more.”
“
I didn’t in the first place.” She folded her arms across her chest.
Thirty minutes later, after sitting in silence and trying their best to pretend that the other didn’t exist, the sky had gone from blue to gray. A heavy thunderstorm had formed and was causing the plane to experience a lot of turbulence.
McKinley stopped a flight attendant as she made her way down the aisle. “What’s happening?”
“
It’s just a little turbulence. Everything will be fine,” the flight attendant assured with a smile, trying her best not to fall.
McKinley panicked. “Why is this happening to me?”
“
Didn’t you just hear what the flight attendant just said?” Koran asked. “Everything gon’ be straight.”
But as soon as the words came out of his mouth the plane shook violently, causing the yellow oxygen masks to fall from the ceiling.
“
This is your captain speaking, ladies and gentlemen. I may have underestimated the storm just a tad bit. But I’m afraid we are being diverted to Jacksonville Airport, as Atlanta International Airport has been shut down. Once we land, the staff will be happy to book you onto connecting flights, in order to get you to your final destination.”
“
I told you.” McKinley began to cry. “We’re all going to die!” She screamed, “Jesus, take me now.”
“
I’d rather argue wit’ you than to be with someone else.”
Kanye West feat John Legend and Chris Rock “Blame Game”
The main terminal of Jacksonville Airport was filled with enraged and shaken-up passengers, trying to figure out how they were going to get to their destinations. Among the slew of people was McKinley. After sitting and waiting three hours for a seat on a plane, she bombarded her way through the crowd with her purse in hand. Although it had been said repeatedly that all flights were canceled due to inclement weather she was determined to find a way out of Hicksville USA and fast.
She questioned an elderly woman behind the service desk. “So are you telling me that there are absolutely no flights leaving out of here until tomorrow?