The Candy Shop (14 page)

While she was working her magic on homeboy, a couple of his watch-out boys yelled out to alert him and everybody in the area doing something illegal, that a couple of undercover narcotics detectives were rolling through in civilian-like cars. So, naturally everyone panicked, including myself. It dawned on me whether I should pull off and leave Teresa’s dumb ass out there where she belonged, or just sit there and act cool.

As I was about to make my decision, I noticed how quickly that fat nigga handed her a tiny black package and walked away from her. As she began to walk back into the direction of the car, it became clearer by the second that the package she carried couldn’t be nothing else but that fat bastard’s drugs. It took everything within me not to drive the fuck off, being as though the police were watching everything moving. So, what were the odds of them fucking with her, much less questioning me after they saw her get into my car? And who knows, they could’ve even fucked around and violated my constitutional rights by conducting an unauthorized search on me, as well as my car, because of the environment we were in. I couldn’t have that, especially not now. So, whatever I decided to do, I knew I am going to have to play it very safe.

“Come on, let’s go,” Teresa instructed me the second she jumped into the passenger seat.

“Wait,” I said, trying to hold my composure. “Did he just hand you a little black bag?”

“Yeah, so come on before the police come over here and fuck with us,” she replied as if she was getting a little impatient.

Now, I was on the verge of blowing her ass clean out of the water for that dumb-ass move she made that could put us both in jail. But, I held my tongue to prevent making a scene, which of course would have opened a door for a major disaster, and then I got out of that place as quickly as possible.

On the way out, I saw two more police officers harassing a couple of guys at the end of the strip. And even though I felt a sense of relief that I was home free, I also knew that it only happened at the expense of those guys. As I approached highway I-264, Teresa reached down inside her pants and pulled out the black bag.

With the biggest smile she could muster up, she said, “I betcha can’t guess how much is in here?”

“Whatever it is, I sure hope it would’ve been worth you going to jail behind,” I commented in a hasty and no-tolerance manner.

“Girl, those police officers weren’t thinking about me,” she began to explain. “All they come out there for is them niggas they see out there every day, which is why Ice Cream gave me his shit and told me to hold it.”

“What do you mean, hold it?”

“Well, I’m supposed to be meeting him around the corner, so he can get this shit back. But, after the way he carried me, he can kiss my ass ’cause I ain’t about to give him shit!”

“Oh my God, Teresa! That man is going to kill you when he catches up with your ass!”

“Please, he ain’t gon’ do shit! ’Cause if wasn’t for me, the police would have been dead on his ass and locking him up as we speak. So, the nigga owes me.”

“That’s not how he’s going to look at it, once he figures out you’re not going to show up.”

“Who cares?” she replied as she opened up the bag. And then within seconds, her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Girl, we hit the motherfucking jackpot!” she continued.

“Yeah, so you think,” I commented with little or no interest at all.

But, it didn’t stop her from harping on how she planned to devour the entire package. “I am gonna have me a motherfucking ball with this shit here. And I ain’t gon’ come up for air until all of it is gone,” she commented with pure excitement.

Instead of responding to her ridiculous comments, I chose to leave well enough alone because I figured, what’s the use? She was a grown-ass woman who chose to live her life in the danger zone. So, if she wanted to keep getting her ass kicked behind taking people’s shit, then that’s exactly what was gonna continue to happen.

Later that night, I found out that the black bag Teresa walked away with contained forty-five caps of the Ice Cream Man’s dope. So, you know she thought she was in paradise. I, on the other hand, played it safe and only sniffed a small quantity of it, since I didn’t have any coke to mix it with. I must say that it wasn’t quite bad either. But, it did make a motherfucker nod off in the blink of an eye. That’s just how powerful the shit was.

You will not believe it when I tell you that it only took Teresa and I three days to blow up all forty-five caps of that penny candy. So, you know we had not had one ounce of sleep for those entire three days. My body was tired and it was urgent that I take a bath immediately because my ass was kicking.

I mean, I’d never gone this long without washing my ass. This was not like me at all. I’d noticed that when you’re getting high, staying on top of your hygiene isn’t really that important. But, what was important was how you were going to cop your next high. And the way we studied our options was like how scientists studied the law of gravity. Now, I know that sounds really crazy, but believe you me, this shit was serious.

It was a Wednesday morning and I’d finally gotten up the nerve to go home and face my husband’s wrath after being gone for almost a week. I knew it wasn’t gonna to be pleasant, since he’d been trying to contact me the entire time. I suited up and was going to be prepared for whatever he threw my way.

As I approached the house, my heart started beating out of control. When I stuck my keys in the front door and couldn’t turn the lock after trying two times, my heart fell straight to the pit of my stomach.

“Wait a minute. What’s going on here?” I said aloud with a puzzled look on my face.

As I was about to knock on the door, it opened and Eric was standing there with the most evil expression he could muster up. As I was about to say something in reference to him changing the locks, he beat me to the punch.

“Thought you were gonna be coming in, huh?”

“Of course, I did. I do live here,” I replied sarcastically.

“Not anymore,” he struck back.

“So, what, you put me out?”

“No, I didn’t. You left.”

“And how in the hell did you come up with that conclusion?”

“After you decided that you wanted to stay out for almost a week. And when I’ve tried to contact you, you failed to take any of my calls, better yet even come home. So, what in the hell was I supposed to think?”

“Look, I don’t want to discuss this mess out here for all the neighbors to be in my business.” I moved forward to cross over the threshold of my front door.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t come in here,” he told me in a cold-hearted manner as he stood directly in the path in which I was trying to travel.

“I beg your pardon!” I snapped, throwing my hands over my hips.

“Listen, Faith, please don’t try to cause a scene,” he warned.

“Eric, I’m not trying to cause a scene. You are,” I lashed back.

“Okay, listen. I’ve gotta go,” he said, taking a couple of step backwards, making room to close the front door.

“Oh, so you’re just gonna close the door in my face?”

“That’s the idea.”

“You know what, Eric? You’re acting really childish right now. So, you need to snap out of it and talk to me like an adult, because these games you’re playing aren’t funny anymore.”

“Oh, so you think this is a game, huh?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, let me be the first to tell you that my decision to change the locks and file for a legal separation is not a game,” he started off. “I am sick of all your bullshit and everything you stand for. I mean, look at you.”

“What’s wrong with me?” I interjected.

“Have you looked in a mirror lately? Because, if you haven’t, then let me be the first to say that you look like shit! And you smell like you haven’t bathed in a whole week.”

“Oh, bullshit! That’s a fucking lie! You don’t smell me and you know it.”

“Trust me, Faith, I do. And believe it or not, it really hurts me to see you like this. But, what’s so ugly about the whole thing is that you refuse to be honest with yourself and admit that you have a drug problem.”

“That’ s because I don’t.”

“Come on now, Faith, who are you kidding here? I mean, tell me, what person stays out for five or six days and doesn’t come or call home? And when they do show up, they look like roadkill.”

“You got all the answers. So, you tell me.”

“Nah, I don’t have to tell you, because you already know.”

“Yeah, whatever Eric, because I’m really not in the mood to hear all of that.”

“Well, are you in the mood to hear about how much your daughter misses you? And is always asking me why you won’t return our calls?”

“Where is she?”

“It’s ten o’clock in the morning, so she can’t be anywhere else but school.”

“What time are you going to pick her up?”

“I’m not. My mother is, since Kimora asked her last night could she come and get her so they can go out for ice cream.”

“Well, what time is she bringing her home?”

“You don’t need to be concerned about that. What you need to be concerned about is calling Carolina Finance Company and making some arrangements with them about when you intend to make your two-month-overdue car payments.”

Stuttering between every word, but trying to make my explanation sound plausible, I said, “Wait, there must be some kind of mistake. I don’t owe them two car payments because that company automatically takes it out of the account.”

“I know that, and so do they. But, the representative told me that when they’ve tried to make the electronic drafts from your account, it’s always coming back non-sufficient funds. So, I personally called your account to check your balance found out that you’re in the negative of ninety-eight dollars. Now, how can you explain that when I left you over one thousand dollars in that same account a little over a month and a half ago?”

“I refuse to explain anything to you, after the way you’re carrying on.”

“Well, I guess there’s nothing else for us to talk about,” he told me and proceeded to close the front door.

Before he was able to close it fully, I stuck my feet in the door frame to block him from further closing it. When he saw this, it really pissed him off to the point that he said, “If you don’t move you foot right now, I am going to break the shit off!”

“Well, let me in the damn house!” I yelled with extreme rage.

By this time, I was at my wit’s end about how he was treating me. I mean, I knew he was going to be upset, but I didn’t have any idea that he would put me out of my own house and file for a legal separation. Was he fucking losing his damn mind or something, because I owned this house just like he did, so I was not gonna just stand there and let him treat me like I was some fly-by-night piece of ass he just fucked last night. It just wasn’t going to happen.

“Faith, if I have to tell you to leave once more, then you leave me no choice but to call the police and have you escorted off the premises.”

“I don’t give a fuck! Call ’em!” I dared him. “Because when they find out I live here too, then we’ll see who gets the last laugh,” I continued as the volume of my voice got louder.

“You’re absolutely right! We will see who gets the last laugh after I tell them that I got an emergency protective order against you.”

“You got what?” I screamed even louder.

“You heard me. Now get off of the premises before I get you arrested!”

Hearing Eric utter the words “protective order” blew me clean out of the water. I couldn’t do a thing but just stand there and look stupid. But, then I thought to myself, On what grounds was he able to get this order against me? So, I challenged the validity of his statement. “You know what?” I began to say, “I am having a hard time believing somebody gave you a fucking protective order against me.”

“Well, believe it,” he struck back as he pulled the document out of his back pocket and flashed it right before my eyes. “Now, get the fuck away from here and carry your ass back to your drug addict girlfriend’s house, where you belong,” he continued.

Becoming numb from the sight of the document and the words that were coming from Eric’s mouth, wouldn’t allow me to move one inch. I mean, this whole altercation with him had me thrown for a loop. And once again, he found a way to belittle the hell out of me. So, what was I to do? Just continue to stand there and have my ass arrested for trespassing on the premises of my own house? Nah, I didn’t think so. So, I immediately convinced myself to suck it up because this whole ordeal would only be temporary. But, I did make one last attempt to try to salvage what life our marriage had left. “Can I ask you a question?” I said.

“Yeah, go ahead,” he insisted.

“Is there any way we can work this whole thing out?”

Before he answered me, he hesitated for a brief moment, but then he said, “Faith, I’ve tried so many times to get you to open your eyes and realize what you were doing to me and your daughter. But, you’re so wrapped up in that world of yours that you can’t even see how your lifestyle is affecting us. I mean, look at you. Your hair looks like shit. And you look like you haven’t had a wink of sleep in days, which is a clear sign that you’re on drugs. And I can’t have you around us like that. So, until you admit that you have a drug problem and check yourself into a drug treatment center, then we have nothing else to discuss.”

“Well, what’s going to happen with us in the meantime?”

“Nothing,” he replied in a nonchalant manner.

“Are you going to let me see Kimora?” I continued as my eyes began to become glassy.

“Not until you get yourself together.”

“So, what about my things?”

“What things?”

“My clothes,” I began to say. “I need my clothes.”

“Oh yeah, you can get your clothes,” he assured me.

“But, when?” I pressed the issue.

“You can get them now. Just let me open up the garage door.”

“But, why do I have to go through the garage to get my things?”

“Because that’s where I put everything after I packed them up,” he replied.

But instead of me reacting in an unpleasant manner because of the response he gave me concerning the whereabouts of my things, I left well enough alone and backed out of the doorway. He closed the front door immediately after and by the time I walked over to the garage door he had it ajar, with him standing there, waiting to assist me.