Maximum Badonkadonk Ch. 09

"Shawnee." Ms. One sounded calm.

"Yes?"

"Girl, you know that was fucked up. Little Daisy walked in here and ended up seeing you guys laid up. You didn't give me no heads up, so now I had to make some shit up to keep me and Jaquan from explaining the birds and bees to a toddler."

"I'm sorry about that Ms. Kelly."

"You should be; and call me Renee girlfriend. You didn't notice there wasn't no clip in the gun, huh chipmunk?"

"No."

"Shawnee, you brought this on yourself. Wouldn't you do the same if you had a little girl? I mean, you've told us yourself how you got assaulted by your stepdaddy, so you obviously can't expect me to be any less protective, right?"

This pale bitch was using Shawnee's history against her beginning to mentally wash out the assault she'd just committed.

"Well yeah when you put it that way, I guess I understand things better." Shawnee admitted looking like five miles of bad road drenched in perspiration, tears and mucus running from both nostrils.

"What is there to understand Shawnee; I'm right." Renee corrected.

"Yeah, that's what I meant."

"Damn bitch, you pissed all over the floor." Rashida looked disgusted looking between Shawnee's face and the puddle. This caused the traumatized woman to stare at Renee looking into the camera fearful of what would happen next.

"Leave her alone Rashida, get her a mop so she can clean that shit up. Oh yeah, bring some plastic bags in here so she can put those piss soaked clothes in the wash."

"Sure." Rashida stalked off with a scoff.

"Shawnee?"

"Yes Renee?"

"Hey uh, I found some more online brands that want you to represent them; there's a lot of money in it for you well, if you're down."

"I'm down Renee." Shawnee was wiping her tears and half of the makeup off her face with her forearm. She looked relieved at the emergence of Renee's more familiar side.

"Shawnee?"

"Yes?"

"You my nigga?" Renee asked knowing the answer as I became so disgusted, I shut off the clip.

I couldn't watch anymore because I was honestly disappointed in myself for spending as much time with these women as I had. Obviously, I'd gone down that rabbit hole led there by Renee Kelly followed by Rashida Sikes unwittingly bringing along Shawnee Thompson and Andre. I couldn't blame Andre for not wanting to talk to me, but Shawnee bought in wholesale after some trinkets and an inclusivity previously unknown was offered. I chuckled knowing that her old friend Porsha Simms never would've fit in with Renee's clique.

"Esteemed Baby Mamma Number Two" surreptitiously engulfed me with her appearance, malevolence, and harsh charm. I'd become a convert and employee before I even knew it. Taught her a new skill which would doubtless be used to fill her pockets full of cash. Shawnee was the last thing she'd gleaned from me, another new convert. My phone started flashing with an incoming call. It was an unknown number.

"Hello?"

There was a bit of hesitation on the other side of the line along with some ambient chatter in the background. Sounded like some sort of office or public area frequented by crowds of people.

"HELLO, WHO IS THIS?!!"

"Uh sorry young man; this is all very disturbing but I'm calling for a young lady friend of yours. My name is Mr. Abelman.

************************************

Almost thirty minutes later, I was taking an elevator up to the third floor of Little Company of Mary hospital. The hits kept on coming after I received a visitor's pass thinking quickly on my feet. I revealed the fact that I wasn't family to the patient but caught myself claiming to be a sibling finding Mr. Abelman standing in the middle of the corridor wringing his hands. He'd been there for most of the night since two in the morning after finding her sprawled out on the sidewalk halfway between his deli and their shared place of residence.

"Oh thank you for coming down here; I'm just so tired and I've been up all night with the wife here!"

Mr. Abelman looked weather beaten and stressed out with good reason as I noticed his wife sitting in the corridor. We exchanged glances acknowledging one another with a simple nod. She didn't look angry for the inconvenience, just understanding.

"What happened?"

"Well its near end of the month and I always stay a little late to the business working on my taxes with the wife Shira here. You like my wife, she's a good earthly woman who puts up with my shenanigans. Well, enough about that already, young man because we locked up and were coming down the street and there she was lying there on the sidewalk. The wife was scared it was one of them drive by shootings, but I told her that's only in those bad neighborhoods; no offense there. Luckily, she was still breathing, but whoever did that to her, was a monster. She's not talking to the police or nothing."

"What the doctor say?"

"Concussion, more than one maybe; some other shit I don't know; are you gonna look after her, or what?" He was truly at his wits end and I didn't blame Mr. Abelman one bit.

"I got it."

I pushed open the door leading into her hospital room finding a horrific sight that further shook me to the core leaving me emotionally shattered as I collapsed into the door frame trying to gather myself. Her face was puffed up beyond near recognition, both eyes and nose swollen with stitches in her lower lip. She'd been tucked in by the nurses with one arm above the bedding sporting a wrist cast and sling.

There was a visible bruise on her left temple that stood drastically out because of the greasy look of her natural yellowed tone. I managed to inch closer to the bed finding a literal handprint on her neck. The air in the hospital room was stale, an air of death lingering about as I started to break.

"Yoli." I mumbled under my breath covering my face with both hands.

"Yes?"

She answered barely above a whisper slurred speech as I looked up incredulously. Her eyes slowly started to open as much as she could manage, her dry cracked lips trying against hope to form a smile. I didn't know what to do, just staring for a while as she stirred.

"What happened?"

"You called but, you wasn't you." She replied words slurred as I noticed a missing tooth along with a light trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth. I got some tissues dabbing at it but she winced under my actions making me hesitate.

"I don't understand Yoli."

"You texted last night, wanted me to come outside and talk. I uhm, was so happy to hear from you. I ran outside, but you wasn't you, alright?" I stared at her face realizing how much it hurt for Yoli to speak. Her mouth was full of blood clots.

I got my phone out looking at my texts; I pulled up my google drive restoring the altered data on my phone. There it was right in front of my eyes; messages sent from my phone during the night to Yoli. Very simple message and all that was needed to get a girl driven nearly insane from loneliness to run out into the night.

YOLI I NEED YOU, I'M OUTSIDE-the message was simplicity in and of itself.

"Got scared that you might've changed your mind, so I ran down the street towards the bus stop, but they were there waiting and some more coming up behind me real fast. Man, Rashida really wanted to win this time. I think there were six of them, not sure because I got hit with uh, I think a bottle. Hell, she got her revenge, but I didn't care."

"I'm so sorry."

"Why did you call me out there; did you want this to happen to me?"

"I didn't send that message Yoli."

"Oh, Renee huh?" She managed to reply after a few minutes of struggling.

I sat next to her bed staring at the doorway too ashamed to look at her face. I thought about the weird detour Renee had taken me on back to her building and how she made it a point to park in the alley. Obviously, Rashida and others were camped out front or in her salon.

"Yeah."

"I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did when she opened those beautiful thighs to me." I glanced down at my feet reflecting on the emerging scope of Renee's activity in the last twenty four hours.

Besides screwing me into nirvana, she was also setting up an ambush using Yoli's one known current weakness besides herself. Rashida proved cowardly enough to come with enough backup to insure a decisive victory no longer underestimating her lanky foil. Yoli destroyed her ego and street cred in that alley next to Renee's salon. This was the blow back; the boomerang return of karma once again using me as a weapon. My chest tightened up as Yoli cranked her head in my direction.

"Told you she'd make you crazy if you let her."

"Yoli."

"You threw me away for them and now, they've done the same to you. How does it feel to be tossed from heaven?"

"Bullshit, I never threw you away; Yoli you shocked me and the neighborhood when you beat the shit out of Rashida. I guess, nobody saw it coming and it scared me a little bit."

"Scared her too, but not enough to make her leave me alone. I didn't want that karma, but I fucked her over first and then you fucked her too. I knew this shit was gonna happen, but I knew you wouldn't listen to me as long as Renee was in your head."

"Yoli, I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for; besides, I fucked your cousin, right?"

I didn't answer just sitting there besides Yoli staring at the half opened hospital door. There was no doubt about my winding trip through what was turning out to be a weird polyamorous mess of entanglements. We kind of hit it off for a minute before I discovered myself an item on her "To Do" list born out of an obsession with Renee Kelly.

Finding her with Jaquan drove that point home undoubtedly with hammer on nail efficiency, but I was unable, likely unwilling to see the truth for what it was. That episode in her apartment felt like genuine bonding until I found her under my cousin stuffed to the gills. My own ego wouldn't allow me to accept that truth.

Neither would Yoli's. It prompted her to pursue me while I used her body to buffer my hurt feelings. We just got our own little weirdness going on blossoming out of her obsession.

"Fuck, I can hear you thinking; stop it because that's what is gonna lead you right back to her. Don't deny it, I know her intimately, watched her and you have one good chance right now from the outside."

"What's that Yoli?"

"Longer you stay away, the weaker her grip becomes. She'll be forced to cross that line but it you ain't gonna like it one bit. Be careful with Renee; she breaks toys that become of no use to her. Ask your cousin what he had to give up to be in her sphere again."

"He blocked me." Yoli laughed for a few seconds before coughing up some blood which I wiped up with a paper towel.

"You'll find out soon enough; so, what made her turn on you so quick?"

"Her Bizarro."

"What's that?"

"Don't worry about it; what're you gonna do about being up in here, you know, hospital bills and such. Do you have anybody you want me to contact Yoli?"

It was hard looking at her battered face knowing I was the cause of it. There was no hiding the swirling mixture of sorrow, malice and grief visited upon this trouble woman.

"What do you care? You already threw me in the garbage."

"I'm serious, I have some money to help with the bill."

"Fuck that shit."

"Please Yoli."

"Misplaced guilt talking, but it makes me so happy anyway. I wish we could do it right now, but I'm on the mend as you can see lover. Don't worry about a thing, I've got a black card."

"Stop playing."

"You don't know me, really; I'm sorry about that, truly sorry." She motioned weakly with her good hand wanting me to take it.

I leaned forward gingerly taking that hand with both of my own. Her knuckles were skinned on this hand probably stomped underfoot. There was a long bruise and similar skinned flesh on her inner bicep probably more under the sheet too.

"Let me help you Yoli."

"No, I want to help you for real this time. I want you to be okay and happy without the drama. I want us to see one another just one more time, when I'm not looking like a demented cabbage patch doll in the head. Maybe do it one or two more times, then let it blow in the four winds. Will you let me help you this one last time?"

There was a rock in my throat impossible to swallow as she spoke.

"Yes." I mumbled, squeezing her hand lightly.

"Take a real good look at me; imagine I'm Renee Kelly for a good fifteen seconds laying here in this hospital bed, then turn around and walk out of here. Leave this hospital and don't look back. If its meant to be, we'll see each other again and on that day, I'll make sweet love to you like we never separated."

"Yoli."

"Go, I don't think I'll be this sane for a long time; let's make the best of it."

I took several deep breaths staring intently into her face, my vision starting to blur because of tears streaming from my eyes. Yoli for all she was worth in this moment, managed to widen her swollen eyes staring deeply at my face for those allotted fifteen seconds with a partially jagged smile on her cracked lips. My grip tightened on her soft hand caressing and massaging it well past those fifteen seconds. Yoli remained true to her sage words of wisdom.

She slow and painfully turned away looking at the wall.

"Yoli?"

"Yoli!!" Her hand slid from my grasp emotionally intangible moving up to her chest as I watched more tears running down my cheeks.

"YOLI!!!" She turned away into a fetal position denying me.

There was nothing left but acquiescence to the lady's wishes. I got up dutifully putting the chair back in place before walking out pulling the door up behind me. I started power walking down the corridor as two people approached, an elderly couple Caucasian.

I found myself exchanging glances with this distinguished looking gentleman for the briefest of seconds. His assumed wife looked emotionally drained; her arm looped in his not meeting my gaze. I was similarly a mess but nodded acknowledging him in that instant.

I got into the elevator noticing him looking back at my face before the doors shut.

************************************

The open window at the back of the bus provided a welcoming breeze as I sat in its last seat thankfully alone and devoid of other pedestrians. There was no trusting myself to take a uber over to Renee Kelly's salon, her seat of power. I'd failed Yoli wanting to confront her directly and even my cousin physically if he stood in my way as her proxy.

The guilt was overwhelming and I knew I couldn't handle it without somehow challenging these sick people in some way. I honestly didn't know what I was gonna do already eschewing Yoli's advice in favor of some measure of vengeance. I was tortured with mentally fabricated images of Renee laughing in my face after being challenged.

The entire night of passion turned out to be a tight knit hatchet and retribution play topped off with a heaping helping of "Alpha Female" posturing to the ninth degree. It was surreal how Renee managed to take me out of things in one night wreaking havoc on my budding relationship with a perceived rival while simultaneously setting her former employee up for an ambush that nearly took her life.

Ten steps felt more like twenty, fifty even a hundred. My anxiety began to ramp up two city blocks away from her place, but images of Yoli's demolished face steeled my nerves. I decided to exercise some caution getting off one block ahead of things by this little median that served as a tiny park with some trees, foliage, and a few benches.

I hesitated a bit as the bus pulled off the curb leaving me alone facing the direction of Renee's stronghold. I found myself with a bit of indecision, this voice in the back of my head telling me to turn back. I backed into the foliage walking to the edge of the median peering between some bushes eventually using the zoom feature on my phone's camera as makeshift binoculars.

I could make out nothing out of the ordinary noticing some sort of handyman or window washer putting the finishing touches on the salon's windows with a squeegee. Some kids were hanging out front using one of her tables while a few rested atop a ten speed and dirt bicycle, respectively. For some reason this renewed the angry energy simmering in my heart.

Somewhere off in the distance some asshole was blasting this fucked up 80's song "Hello" as I stumbled through the bushes braving oncoming traffic to make it to the sidewalk. Nervous energy abound, I was actually trembling at the upcoming confrontation as I walked slowly to the intersection containing Renee's salon. I used my phone to snap a few pics of Renee's building as I approached figuring they would come in handy for this as yet unformed plan in my head.

I remained low key shaky as I reached the opposite side of the intersection facing Renee's salon and place of residence. I still didn't have a plan walking across the street. Now I could see the handyman was actually putting this opaque glass film on the window. There were photos of women on it advertising services offered inside.

I knew better; Renee was putting up a shield so that no one could look inside her shop without opening the front door. I walked up to the door noticing the same bit of work done to the rectangular glass pane inset as I grabbed the handle.

"Shit." It was locked.

"You have to ring the door bell to get inside son." The handyman, some older brother in his sixties was obliging oblivious to my intent.

"Thanks." I pushed the doorbell which had this loud insectoid buzz that was instantly annoying.

No one answered even after several repetitions.

"Are they closed today sir?"

"I don't think so; they were in there a good ten minutes ago, full house and everything." He responded piquing my curiosity.

"Sure?"

"Yeah, that there Carlie girl paid me in cash; even got me some more work coming up remodeling the place." He looked happy standing there in a workman's old school boiler suit littered with paint splotches. This guy had one of those Steve Harvey smiles, all teeth.

"Remodeling?"

"Yeah, she's taking over from her cousin."

Just like that I was hit in the gut with another puzzle piece previously unknown. Renee never mentioned family outside of her daughter and Jaquan. Now she'd positioned her relative amongst people she considered beneath her, playing pieces in her own perceived scheme of things.

"Is that right sir?"

"Oh yeah and I personally think it's beautiful to see this kind of thing in the community. That Carlie girl is one smart cookie studying business, marketing and such with family watching her back all the way. Ms. Kelly is definitely what we need to rebuild our communities the right way."

His horse smile was grating on my nerves despite his cluelessness about the true nature of Renee.

"Right." I turned quickly to the door knocking incessantly ringing the doorbell almost simultaneously before he intervened, concerned.

"Hey son, you got business in there; they owe you money?" He stopped me by simply putting a nonthreatening hand in front of my chest, but not touching in any way. I was breathing hard trying to maintain my composure.

"Something like that sir." I responded tersely. He looked alarmed obviously threatened by the inherent aggression in my actions.

"You can't do nothing like that son; I'll try to see what I can do for you with these people. They're good girls in there and don't you worry none. Just back on up a little bit while I talk with them, okay?" I hated the fake smile on his face.

"Yeah."

"Name's Cedric by the way." We shook hands; his grip roughhewn and strong. I knew it was a test figuring my softer grip would put him at ease.

"Nice to meet you Cedric."

"Obliged, now you gone head and step a few paces back."