Trapstar 3 (18 page)

Charrise snapped out of her daze. She looked at the nice looking white man with confusion. She was so into her thoughts she hadn’t noticed anyone looking in her direction. She was almost sure he didn’t know her, nor her him. Then as she looked closer, it was something very familiar about the gentleman; she just couldn’t figure out what.

“Well, do you mind if I join you for breakfast and maybe we can figure it out together?” the man asked

Now, Charrise was not sure if this was just a great pickup line, or if they did indeed know each other.
If it is a pickup line, it was a very unique one,
she thought.
He is nice looking though, and I am a little lonely.
She continued to reason with herself.

“Sure, why not.” she responded with a smile. The man sat down and they began talking like old classmates who were catching up after years of not seeing each other. After chatting about where they were from, the subject of occupation came up. Charrise, unsure of what profession to claim, insisted that Alston go first.

“Well, if you must know, I’m a Doctor, a gynecologist to be exact. I work at Caroline Health Care.”

Alston didn’t have to finish his statement, before Charrise realized where they had seen each other. He was the fine doctor who had called for the woman who went before her at the clinic. All kind of thoughts began to run through her mind. The first and most important being whether or not he knew why she was there that day. Alston was still talking about his career, so it seemed that, unlike Charrise, he had not put his work and seeing her together yet.
He probably sees hundreds of women in any given week. It’s no way he will make that connection, even so, I could have been there for a simple checkup or anything.
Charrise thought to herself.

“Ok, enough about my work, what type of work do you do?” Alston asked with a raised brow.

“Actually, I’m a fulltime student and I sell Herbalife products part-time.” Charrise responded.

“Well you must do very well with your health products to be able to spend a weekend at a resort like this.” Alston replied.

“I do pretty well, and I’m spending a week, not a weekend.” Charrise uttered. It was her way of letting Alston know that she wasn’t a female in need of a come up, and she could handle herself financially.

Alston and Charrise enjoyed each other’s company for all eighteen holes of the golf course. While Alston started off serious, by the fourth hole, he was only interested in helping Charrise with her form. So that meant being close enough to smell her wonderful scent and feel her still thick curvy figure against his body.

Both were sweating profusely and Charrise was about to invite him up to her room, so they could shower and make dinner plans, when her phone began to ring. It was Selena. She had not talked to her girl in a while, so she decided to answer.

__________

The doctor entered the waiting room. Brianna and Jonathan had been there for nearly six hours. Brianna refused to go home until she saw her father.

“Ms. Parsons?” the tall slim doctor said as he looked at Brianna. “My name is Dr. Morris. I am your father’s surgeon.” Dr. Morris said, extending his hand to Brianna.

“It’s Campbell. How is my dad?”

“Well, Ms. Campbell, it was touch and go. He has lost a lot of blood, and we had to remove some of his intestines. The bullet went straight through him. He is resting now. You can see him for a few minutes, but he is still heavily sedated.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Brianna said holding Jonathan’s hand.

They followed the doctor through the double doors. The fluorescent lights seemed to become brighter as they approached the ICU. Brianna could smell the disinfectants and hear the machines monitoring patients. Dr. Morris stopped at room six.

“Only one of you can go in, and only for a few moments.”

Brianna squeezed Jonathan’s hand and opened the door. Cowboy lay in the bed with tubes, and wires coming out of him. Brianna touched his hand and sat down on the stool beside the bed.

“Daddy.” Brianna kissed his hand and laid her head on the bed beside his arm. “You get better, Daddy, cause I need you.” Brianna wiped her eyes and kissed his forehead.

The machines beeped as she watched his chest rise and fall. “I’m gonna find out who did this, and take their fucking head off.” She squeezed his hand and then pulled the covers up on him. She looked back at him one last time before leaving the room.

“I love you, Daddy,” she said before closing the door.

“How is he?” a man said, practically running into Brianna. Brianna recognized him from the courthouse. It was Cowboy’s son… well, her brother.

“He is resting right now. He is really sedated.” Brianna said.

“I want to see him.” Eagle said, walking past her into the room.

Brianna looked at Jonathan, and sat down beside him.

“Hey sis, I don’t know Cowboy that well, but from what I can tell he is one tough dude. He is going to be all right. That guy is a beast. He probably gonna wake up and smoke a cigarette in the ICU.” Jonathan said, laughing.

“Yeah, he probably will. He is tough, a real O.G..” Brianna said, wiping her nose with a tissue.

They sat there silently for a few moments. Brianna’s phone rang. She looked at the screen and saw Charrise’s picture. She hit ignore; she did not want to deal with Charrise right now. Right now, she just wanted to concentrate on her father. She scrolled through her contact list and dialed her mother’s number. Lorraine’s voicemail picked up without even ringing. She called again and the voicemail picked up again.

“Ma, where are you? I need you to come to the hospital. Cowboy has been shot.” Brianna pressed end and sat back in the chair. It was not like her mother not to answer her phone, but it was like her not to charge her phone. Brianna decided to text her as well. She knew she would see the text as soon as she turned on her phone. Her phone buzzed. She looked at the screen, Charrise was calling her again, she was about to hit ignore for the second time, but paused.

“Yeah?” Brianna said with an attitude that Charrise could feel through the phone.

“Why yo ass send me to voice mail?” Charrise said, sitting in the car watching the cops watch her parents’ house.

“What do you want?” Brianna said, looking at her nails.

“Where is Ma? Is she with you?”

“No, she isn’t with me. I’m at the hospital. Cowboy got shot. I just tried calling her and she didn’t answer. Why?” Brianna asked nonchalantly.

“He got shot by who?”

“I don’t know, Charrise, he just got out of surgery.”

“Was Ma with him?” Charrise asked, feeling her pulse quicken.

“I just said that I tried calling her, Charrise. No, she wasn’t with him. Look, what’s up?” The line was quiet for a moment. “Charrise! What is wrong? Why are you asking about Ma? I am sure she is fine.”

“Herman says that she isn’t fine, and I can’t reach her.” Charrise said, putting her keys in the ignition.

“Herman? Where did you see him?” Brianna said, standing.

“That doesn’t matter, I need to find Ma.” Charrise said trying to hide the panic she was feeling.

“Charrise, where did you see Herman?”

“I don’t have time to talk about Herman now. I need to find my mother.”

“Charrise, what is going on? Where are you?” Brianna said, raising her voice slightly.

“I am about to handle some shit you should have handled months ago.” Charrise said.

Brianna heard a click and then silence.

“Was that Charrise?” Jonathan asked.

Brianna shook her head and walked over to the window of the waiting room. The sun had gone down. She checked her watch; it was almost seven. She dialed her mother’s number again, and Lorraine’s voice mailed picked up.

“Jonathan, have your heard from Mommy today?” she asked.

“No.” Jonathan said, taking out his phone. He had not checked his phone all day. He saw a few text messages from people, but one caught his eye. A message from Gator was sent earlier that day.

“Did she call you?” Brianna asked as she dialed Lorraine’s number again.

Jonathan shook his head.

“Something is up.” Brianna said, walking around the room.

She took her phone out and called Kasy. His phone rang several times and went to voicemail. Brianna wondered why he wasn’t answering, and why he had not followed them to the hospital.

Brianna felt a twinge in her stomach, making her sit down for a moment. She inhaled.

The door to Cowboy’s room opened and Eagle walked out. He walked over to Brianna and touched her shoulder. “Hey, you okay?” he asked as he sat down beside her. “Pops is strong, he is going to pull through.” Eagle said, wrapping his arms around Brianna’s shoulder.

“I hope so, Eagle.” She looked up to see the police walking into the waiting area.

“Here come these mutherfuckas.” Eagle whispered.

“Ms. Campbell? My name is Detective Sanders,” the white detective said, showing her his badge. “The doctor says your father is lucky to be alive. Any idea who would have shot him?”

“If we knew that, do you think we would be sitting here?” Eagle said without looking at the detective.

“And you are?” Detective Sanders said, looking Eagle over.

“I am trying to comfort my sister while our father fights for his life. So why don’t you get your ass out there and pretend to look for who put him in that fucking bed!” Eagle said as he stood.

He pulled Brianna up and motioned for Jonathan to follow him. They exited the waiting room and walked outside. Eagle didn’t say anything as he walked to his white Range Rover. He opened the door for Brianna, as Jonathan got in the back seat.

“I can’t stand them muthafuckas.” he said as he drove out of the parking lot. “You guys hungry? Because I’m starving, let’s get something to eat. The doctors have my number if something changes with Pops. In the meantime, we need to find out what the hell happened to him.”

Selena and Charrise sat in the parked minivan in the front yard of the house. Charrise had rushed to the address once Selena called and told her what Herman had done to their mother. She tried to get as much info as possible from Brianna, but it was like she was bothering her, so she never let her know Lorraine was in danger. Charrise figured she would handle it herself.

Herman was doubled over, tired from the beating that Selena and the rest of the girls had given him. Selena tossed a cup of soda in Herman’s face to wake him up.

Herman smiled at her, and laughed when he saw Charrise sitting there beside her.

“No luck, huh?” he said as he coughed. “You just wasted valuable time, girl. I told you I am the one that will decide if Lorraine lives or dies. It all depends on what you and that bitch Brianna do. Hey baby girl, I see they done dragged you into this now.”

“Don’t fuckin call me that!” Charrise said, trying to fight back tears. “Why are you doing this to me? I am your flesh and blood, and she is your wife. Why are you so heartless?” Charrise said looking into Herman’s eyes. Herman laughed at her.

As he laughed, he began to cough. The taste of the shitty rag lingered on his tongue

“You really are sick. How do you do shit like this to your own flesh and blood? How you allow your child to be tortured and raped?” Charrise asked with tears forming in her eyes.

“They told you that? That little red hoe promised that she wouldn’t—”

“So you don’t deny it, do you asshole?” Charrise responded cutting Herman off. She didn’t want to hear any more of his lies, so she picked the rag up off the floor and stuck it back into his mouth.

Charrise walked back to the chair and sat down. She stared at Herman, thinking of her childhood. Unlike Brianna, he had always showered her with affection and love. He never mistreated her and was always supportive of her in every way. She wondered would she be able to kill him to save her mother. She wished Brianna was here to take the decision out her hands.

__________

Brianna, and Jonathan sat at the table with Eagle. Jonathan took out his phone and texted Gator, hoping that she was not pissed off at him for responding to her so late.

“The cops have Pop’s car, but I have a friend at the station that was able to get me the GPS information. I know where he was before he went to the hospital.” Eagle said, sipping his coffee.

Brianna stared at her half-brother. Eagle had high cheekbones, smooth caramel skin, and large brown eyes that seemed to change with his mood. At six foot two, broad shoulders, he had the build of a running back. As handsome as he was, he seemed to be just as dangerous as Cowboy.

“Brianna, you need to eat, cause we got a lot of work ahead of us. Now what was your sister saying about your mother?” Eagle said, taking a bite of his burger.

“I don’t know. She asked where she was, and then said Herman said she was in danger. She wouldn’t give me any more details.” Brianna answered.

“What do you mean Charrise said, he said, Mom was in danger?” Jonathan asked, putting his phone down.

“That is what she told me, and then she hung up. I asked her where she was, and she said taking care of something I should have taken care of months ago.”

Jonathan picked up his phone and dialed Charrise’s number. He needed to get this shit straight, especially when it was dealing with his mom. The phone rang several times before going to voicemail.

Eagle dug into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. He took three twenties from the knot and placed them on the table.

“Come on, we need to go to that hotel,” Eagle said, walking towards the door. Brianna and Jonathan followed him. Jonathan’s phone chirped, making him smile at the text message.

I do not do well with being put off.
Jonathan stared at the screen. Even with the shit going on, Jonathan could not get Gator off his mind. He had to be smart about what he would say to her. He slowed his pace and let Eagle and Brianna walk ahead of him. Jonathan dialed Gator’s number. The phone rang a few times, and Jonathan thought it was going to go to voice mail.

“Hello.” Gator said.

“Hello beautiful, beautiful lady. I wanted to call to apologize to you. Things have been a little crazy. I promise you, I will make this up to you.” Jonathan said. The line was silent for a moment.