Boss Bitch Part 1 - Babs

“Biiiiiiiiiitch this food is giving a bitch three winks and a blink! Okayyyy!” Shelly said and I froze.

“I’m on my way. Stay on the phone with me until I get there.” I demanded. I knew that dirty, dusty ass bitch was up to no good. I was receptive of finding out that Shelly was hanging out with new bitches. I did not care who she fucked with as long as they loved her as she deserved to be loved in all capacities of her life.. However, I knew THAT BITCH wasn’t right. My blood was boiling. One good skill I inherited from my mother is discernment. I jumped out of Leaf’s bed and peeked into his study room. “Shelly needs me, Babe!”

“You need me?” He asked and I smiled. This was the first time I allowed myself to be vulnerable for a man and I loved it.

“You know what? Yes!” I responded. “I could use the company.” He sat his Quran on the shelf and grabbed his jacket and we jumped in his car. He drove as I continued talking to Shelly. We laughed and joked about everything. Repeatedly, I apologized for what Kat did to her. She told me she accepted it, but I knew what she needed to ease her heart. Kat had to go. We reached the hospital, and Leaf let me out at the front door. I bypassed the visitor sign in and went straight to her floor. As I stepped off the elevator, I was stopped at the nurse’s station.

“May I ask where you’re going ma’am?” The nurse said.

“Excuse me?” I asked confused. I had visited Shelly multiple times and was never stopped. I looked at my shirt and said “Oh, my visitor pass must’ve come off.”

“Well, we can’t allow you to see a patient on this floor without one.”

“Yes ma’am. No problem.” I said as I turned around to go back downstairs.

 “Shelly, you still here?” I asked because she’d gotten so quiet.”

“Yes, I’m just tired.” She responded. I walked as fast as I could. Once I reached the main floor, Leaf was walking towards me with two visitor passes.

“How’d you know I needed one?” I asked confused.

“I saw that you walked pass the desk. I’ve been coming to this hospital since I was a kid. They ain’t letting you on the floor without it. I tried to be as fast as I could because I figured you were cussing someone out by now.” He said and we laughed before we got on the elevator.

“Damn, I love you!” I smiled.

“I love you too beautiful! What’s going on tho?”

“I don’t know. I’m boutta see. Something isn’t right though.” I said to Leaf and immediately, Shelly’s phone hung up. I called back but it went straight to voicemail. I began to panic as I waited for the elevator to get back to the 9^th floor. It seemed to take forever. As soon as the doors opened, I walked right by the nurse whom had asked me to get a pass and straight to Shelly’s room. Shelly was there but sleep and so was Meka. Something was very off but I couldn’t put my finger on it. As I walked further into the room, I noticed that Shelly was sleep and her unfinished food was still opened in front of her. Her cell phone was sitting on the table next to Meka.

“Sis!” I shook her as I attempted to wake her up.

“The pain meds keep her in and out.” Meka said in a dry, uninterested manner.

“How much of this shit do they give her because she was just up and alert when she called me? Let me go ask the nurse.” I said but before I could leave the room, Meka stopped me in my tracks by grabbing my arm.

“Look, I know it’s hard for you to see her like this, but healing is a process and she’s going to have some days better than others. We just have to watch her.” Meka said with a sudden fake empathetic heart. Leaf moved closer but I put my hand up to signal I had this handled.

“Bitch if you don’t get the fuck off my arm, I do not give a single fuck who you think you are, if you every fucking touch me again, I will kill you with my bare hands. You got the wrong bitch.” I looked her right in her eyes.

“Look! I don’t have to deal with this.” She said and grabbed her things. I noticed that she picked up Shelly’s phone and I snatched it right out of her hands.

“Where do you think you were going with this?” I asked as I cocked my head to the side. “I don’t know what you’re up to but I will find out and WHEN I find out, I will hurt you before I let you hurt a hair on her mother fucking head.”

“Kat. . .” Shelly whispered, and the entire room grew quiet.

“What’s wrong Shellz? . . .Shellz. . .SHELLY!” I asked but she fell back asleep. “Leaf, go get the nurse for me please baby?” As Leaf left the room, Meka attempted to, but I slammed the hospital room door. “Have a fucking seat dumb ass!” She did what she told, as I rolled my eyes as I held Shelly’s hand. As the nurse came in with Leaf, I noticed Meka texting on her phone. I immediately snatched the phone from her playfully. “Give me that silly.” I smiled.

“Hello, my name is Sherrice and I am the nurse for Ms. Rodriguez. How may I help you?”

“I’m Babs. I’m her older sister and I would like to know what dose of medication are you all giving her? She can’t seem to stay awake, and I believe it’s too strong. Is it possible to decrease the dosage? She has a high tolerance for pain.” I said concerned and my voice cracked as I felt like I was about to cry. Sherrice looked at Meka and then back to me.

“May I speak to you in the hallway?” She asked me quietly.

“Sure!” I responded as I followed her. I locked eyes with Leaf and looked at Meka. He nodded his head that he understood that I needed him to watch that bitch. Once I stepped in the hallway, I immediately gave Sherrice my undivided attention. “What’s up?”

“I want you to remain calm after I tell you this. Ms. Rodriguez has a self-administering pump, so we don’t control it at all. She can pump for pain as she feels the need to. It concerned me that I only saw her guest with the pump, but she seemed trusting of the woman and the woman had been here consistently, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt. However, when I was just called in the room, I noticed that Ms. Rodriguez was sleep in front of an unfinished meal and I already knew your concern. . .” Sherrice wasn’t finished but I had heard enough.

“I’m not upset. I will handle it.” I responded calmly but I was so mad that my entire body was hot. When I reentered the room, I closed the door behind me with my back turned to them. “Meka you have one time to tell me the truth.” I turned around and was shocked to see Leaf standing with his pistol to her head.

“Whoaaaa! What happened babe?” I ran to Leaf’s side and rubbed his back trying to calm him down.

“Nothing happened and I wish he would calm down.” Meka said in a panic.

“Bitch don’t talk to me because if I didn’t give a fuck about my man doing life in jail, I’d let him blow your brains out. So, shut the fuck up because I know you’ve been doping my fucking sister up, trying to keep her sleep. I also know who sent you. Kat!”

“Who is Kat? I don’t know anybody by that name. I swear I do not know anyone named Kat.” Meka said as she began crying. She was telling the truth, but I held my poker face. The phone, I thought. I got her phone and saw that she was in the process of texting an unsaved number and the text read, “They Know.”

“Baby, call this number from your phone. 215-222-2522.”

“Why?” He asked.

“She was just texting that number.”

“I don’t have to. That’s Latif’s number!”