Chapter Sixty-three
Keep your cool and never let them see you sweat.
When Alexis pulled up to her house she was surprised to see Shamel sitting on her porch. She looked around and noticed a car in front of her house.
What the hell is he doing here? Didn't I tell him once before I don't like pop-ups? Well, good this will save me a phone call. I'll let him know now.
As she got closer, she noticed that he looked frazzled, not as together as he normally looked. He was sweating, frowning, pacing, and it looked like he was talking to himself. She also noticed a spot that looked like blood on the front of his shirt. This was cause for concern.
Why would he have blood on his shirt? What the hell happened? Is he hurt? Did he hurt someone?
“Shamel, what happened? Are you okay?” she asked as she approached him.
He didn't answer her. He just looked at her.
“Are you okay?” she asked again.
“Where the hell were you?” he asked in a tone that was low and almost menacing.
It threw Alexis off for a second. His tone frightened her, but she told herself not to show it. “What's wrong with you? What are you doing sitting on my porch like this?”
“I've been waiting on you.”
Alexis didn't like how he sounded. His tone implied that she should be at his beck and call. “Waiting on me? Waiting on me for what?”
“We need to talk about us, our relationship.”
What the hell is he talking about? We don't have a relationship. And why the hell is he looking at me like that; like he's about to snap?
Alexis knew without a doubt that she was making the right decision in not seeing him anymore. With the way he was acting now, she just had to figure out a way to tell him.
Alexis tried to get past him. “Shamel, you're scaring me. I think it's best if you leave.” He didn't move an inch.
Okay, now why isn't he leaving?
“I ain't going nowhere until you talk to me,” he told her.
He has lost all his mind.
Shamel looked at the car in the driveway. “Whose car are you driving?”
“A friend's.”
“What friend? Another man's? Is that where you were? With someone else?”
Alexis tried to get past him again but he stood up and blocked her path.
“Answer me. Where the hell were you?”
Alexis decided to try another tactic. “Shamel, why don't you call me later, we'll talk. I need to get back to the hospital. One of my students is in the hospital.”
“Yeah, I know. I know about Diamond or Shay as you call her. I heard about her little incident.”
How did he hear that? Was he behind it?
With the way he was coming across at the moment she didn't know what to think. “Listen you need to move. I need to go in the house.” Once again she tried to brush past him, but he grabbed her arm so tight that she told him. “You're hurting me. Let go of my arm.”
He ignored the request. “Who the fuck you think you're talking to? All the shit I've done for you to get you.”
Alexis looked at him like he was crazy.
What the hell is he talking about? What has he done for me?
“What are you talking about?”
He didn't answer the question. He just told her, “Open the door Alexis.”
“No.” She took a quick look around and hoped that someone saw what was going on and that they would come to her rescue because at this point that's just what she felt like she needed.
“Open the goddamn door!” He gave her a look that told her if she didn't he wouldn't think twice about hurting her.
“Please don't hurt me, Shamel. Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong. What's going on? Why are you acting like this?”
“I won't hurt you, I promise. I just want to talk.”
Alexis felt like she had no choice but to do what he said. She moved past him and unlocked the door. “I'm expecting company soon,” she lied.
“I thought you said you had to get back to the hospital.”
She didn't answer, there was no need to.
She tried to walk through the door and close it on him but he pushed it open and stepped inside. Within the blink of an eye, he had a gun pulled out on her.
Initially she thought her eyes were deceiving her. It only took a second for her to realize this was real. Water formed in the corner of eyes from the fear she was feeling. She put her hands up as though she could protect herself from a bullet.
Please God, you promised you would protect your children from harm. Well, I need your help now.
Alexis looked up at Shamel and in a calm tone asked, “What are you doing? I thought you said you wouldn't hurt me,”
She watched as he scanned the room while still holding the gun in his hand. “I'm not. I just want your cooperation.”
“My cooperation? I thought you said you just wanted to talk.”
Why is he doing this?
“I do want to talk,” he told her, “I want to talk about how I'm tired of you trying to play me.”
Alexis glanced around the room to see if there was something, anything she could grab ahold of so she could fight back. “Play you? Why do you think I'm trying to play you?”
He pushed her on the couch and stood over her. “I'm not stupid Alexis. Don't you know I could have any woman I want? Don't you know that?”
She nodded her head. “I do know that Shamel and you could have had me.”
Why did I say could have, why didn't I say, he can?
Alexis wished she could backtrack.
It was as if he didn't even hear her. “But I want you! You're the one I want!” He bent down and tried to kiss her, but she turned her head.
She didn't know what to say about any of this. She figured the best thing she could do was keep her mouth shut.
“Nah, but you want to fuck around. You want to mess with that nigga, Thomas. I tried to show you who he was; a pedophile but that's not enough for you. Oh, hell no, this shit will not happen to me again.”
What does he mean, he tried to show me who Thomas was? Was he the one who set him up?
Shamel turned his back to her for a second.
This is my chance. S
he tried to get off the couch but he turned back around too quickly.
He pushed her back down. “Where do you think you're going? You think you can get away from me like that? You think it's going to be that easy?” Still holding the gun in one hand, he started taking off his belt with the other hand. “You can't fool me. This shit happened to me before. Every time I love a bitch, she ups and leaves. I'm about to teach your ass a lesson. You think I beat Shay's ass; it's your turn.”
When she heard this, her initial reaction was shock.
So, he's the one that did that to her.
Then she started to scream.
* * *
Champagne who had just pulled up and turned her engine off, heard Alexis screaming. She jumped out of the car and ran to the door and knocked.
“Alexis! Alexis! What's going on in there?”
Inside, Alexis could hear Champagne calling for her. She looked up wide-eyed at Shamel.
He put one finger to his mouth and placed the gun on Alexis' temple to stop her from calling out.
I can't believe this is happening to me. I can't believe I didn't know any better. I'm smarter than that,
Alexis thought.
Please let her call someone. Please don't let her just leave.
Champagne continued to call out and tried to look through the curtains. She couldn't see anything, but she was sure she heard screams. She was positive of it. She looked at the car in the driveway and at the car in front of the house. She wondered who the cars belonged to.
Inside the house, Alexis was staring at the door as Shamel stared at her.
Champagne ran back to her car and pulled out her cell phone and tried to call Zyair. He didn't answer.
Where the hell is he?”
Champagne reached into her glove box and pulled out the gun she just picked up from the gun shop. She was actually stopping by to see if Alexis wanted to go to the shooting range with her later. It was a new hobby Sharon introduced to her. She had no idea whether or not the gun would come in handy. She hoped it wouldn't come down to that. But if it did, so be it. She looked at the gun and sighed.
The Lord works in mysterious ways,
she thought as she put the bullets in the chamber.
Just as she was getting out of the car with the gun in hand Thomas pulled up.
He shut the engine off and climbed out of his car. Immediately he noticed an unfamiliar car in Alexis' driveway and the gun in Champagne's hand. He knew some shit was about to go down, so he opened his glove compartment and pulled out his own gun.
Champagne ran up to him. “I heard Alexis in there screaming.”
She didn't need to tell him anything else. He motioned for Champagne to go to the back of the house.
She nodded her understanding. As she ran toward the back of the house she glanced down the street at a car that was parked. For some reason it felt funny to her; a little off.
Down the street in the black car that was parked, an individual was watching with anticipation.
The second Thomas stepped on the porch, Gavin pulled up with one of his boys. Both of them got out of the car. Gavin was packing too. He and Thomas looked at one another. As they did, they heard Alexis scream.
“I'm here to help,” Gavin told Thomas as he stood next to him.
Thomas instructed the man Gavin was with to take the back. He then turned his attention back to Gavin.
They gave each other the nod. Thomas put up one finger, two fingers, then kicked the door in. They rushed in, only to find Shamel with his pants open and the gun pointed at Alexis.
Her shirt was torn and tears were running down her face. When she saw them, she thought about getting up but the gun stopped her.
When Shamel heard them rush in, he didn't bother turning around. All he said was, “If you don't stay back, I'll kill her. I swear I will.”
“Come on man, you need to let her go,” Thomas told him.
“Why? So you can have her?”
“That's not what this is about. This is about me and you and you know it.”
Shamel started laughing. “You really think that don't you?”
Champagne and Gavin's boy were standing back where Shamel couldn't see them. When they had arrived at the back door, Champagne recalled that Alexis kept a key inside the flower pot for emergencies.
They crept in silently while trying their hardest not to be seen or heard. However, Gavin spotted them out of the corner of his eye. He tried to let her know he was aware of their position.
Champagne backed up some when she heard someone else walk in the door.
“Shamel!” Big Tone had walked in the house. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Shamel had no idea what Big Tone was doing there. “How did you know I was here?”
“I always know where your ass is.”
Shamel didn't like the sound of that. What the fuck was Tone doing keeping tabs on him? “What?”
Big Tone shook his head. “Man, I've been keeping tabs on you ever since you started talking about this girl. I knew this shit was going to happen again. This shit has got to stop and it needs to stop right now.”
Everyone was watching this exchange and took note of the word “again.”
“What matters right now is all these motherfuckers got a gun on you. You need to think about what you're doing.”
“This shit ain't your business. It has nothing to do with you.”
“It has everything to do with me, because if you fuck up, the business is fucked up and then I'm fucked. What you need to do is put the gun down.”
Gavin, tired of the back and forth, stepped up with his gun pointed at Shamel. “Enough of this talking shit.”
Shamel pressed the gun to Alexis' head. “All y'all motherfuckers need to get the fuck out of here or I'm going to shoot this bitch on the count of three.”
Alexis could feel herself start to shake. She felt like she was having an out of body experience. It was as though she was a spectator watching this happen to someone else. She was in shock. Had her Lord let her down? Was He not going to come to her rescue? Was this her punishment for sleeping with three men? Is this how she was going to die, right here, right now in her home without even experiencing real love, without having children, without being married? Was this really it?
“All right, we're going to back up,” Thomas told him.
“I ain't going no fucking where motherfucker. Shay is my niece, motherfucker.” Gavin was ready for whatever.
“Gavin, please,” Alexis begged. “Please back off.”
Shamel started to count. “One.”
Gavin looked at her, then at Thomas. It was almost as if they had a secret code. In the meantime Champagne and Gavin's boy were creeping up behind Shamel.
“Two.”
“Please everyone. Calm down,” Alexis begged.
Shamel shoved her in the face with the gun. “Shut up! Shut the fuck up!”
Big Tone yelled, “Shamel, behind you!”
Before Shamel could respond or say “three”, Alexis pushed his arm away and rapid gunfire was heard.
* * *
TO BE CONTINUED