Hood Love Part 5 - Shelly

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! This beeping was irritating me. However, it was the consistent, steady beeps letting me know that I was still amongst the living. The pain medication that was pumping through my I.V. had me woozy, but that didn’t stop me from turning my head to see if someone was sitting at my side – and my homegirl I had met in Philly, Meka, was. She was sitting there quietly, reading her book, still dressed in the same clothing from the night of the shooting. Against the nurses and doctors’ suggestions, she refused to go home and change. It was her fear that she would miss something vital or even worse – I wouldn’t make it. Little did she know I was a soldier. I had been through two surgeries and the surgeons were successful in fully removing the three bullets from my body.  

There I was celebrating three of the best moments of my life. I had officially opened a business that I knew was going to thrive with the person I loved most on earth, Babs. I passed my bar exam. I got to witness Babs get engaged to her soulmate. The night was perfect, but like the narcissist that she is – Kat just had to ruin the fucking night. It didn’t matter how many chances we gave her; she was determined to ruin me and Babs. At first, I thought her hate came from Babs & I relationship. Babs is her only sister and perhaps, Babs and I growing close may have triggered something in her to resent me. As me and Babs’ friendship developed into a sisterhood, I came to find out that the hate started long before me. Kat had always envied Babs, and no matter what lengths she went to prove it, Babs still loved Kat to death – even in her not speaking to her. I couldn’t wrap my head around it either way.  

As a result of whatever Kat’s mental problems were, there I laid in Temple Hospital with my body full of lead-filled holes. A few tears slid down my face as I thought about everything that I would rather have been doing at that very moment instead of being in that hospital bed. More than anything, I was ready to go home and finally get some rest in my own bed but in between my frequent naps, I heard a nurse tell Meka that I had to get cleared by physical therapy first. 

“What’s wrong friend? Are you in pain?” Meka asked concerned as she looked up and noticed the tears rolling down my face.  

“No.” I started but paused to gain control of my emotions. “Why did this happen to me, friend? What have I done so bad in life that GOD would allow this to happen to me?” I asked and began to cry uncontrollably. 

“No ma’am. We are not doing that shit. Why it happened. . . Friend, maybe GOD will only know but we are going to going to focus on the blessing in it. This is an addition to your testimony and guess what the best part is? You are the one alive to tell it. This is not an ideal way to celebrate your proudest moments, but it didn’t take them away from you either. You are still the owner of Lux Gentleman’s Club. You are still an attorney at law. And you are still here so shushhhh all that crying. I want you to be able to go home as soon as possible so don’t go running your blood pressure up by worrying!” She said as she dried my eyes. That’s why I fucked with her. We met at Starbucks and hit it off immediately. On a drunk night, we became intimate and a few times since then, but it was nothing serious. I loved Reek and that’s who I wanted to be with. My experiences with Meka just gave me something different, though it was not my first time being with a woman. I used to be ashamed of the fact that I was attracted to women but fuck it. You only live once.  

“Thanks friend. I love you.” I looked her in her eyes. Meka was so easy to connect to and vibe with. She was independent, feminine, beautiful, fly, and easy to please.  

“I love you too. Now rest up until physical therapy gets here.” Meka instructed, and as soon as I closed my eyes, in came Babs. Her and Reek had been there around the clock too. However, I don’t care how much she loved me – and I know for a fucked she did very much – she was not going to go without washing her ass and changing her clothes for anyone.  

“No time for rest biiiiiiitch! How are you feeling?” Babs greeted me as sashayed her bougie ass in the room and we both giggled. I noticed Meka roll her eyes at Babs as she entered the room and made a mental note to check her on that.  

“Hey biiiiiiitch! I missed you. These mother fuckers won’t feed me shit good and I am starving. Please tell me something in that big ass bag you got belongs to me and tastes like Heaven!”  

“You are not starving.” Meka interjected but Babs and I both ignored her comment.  

“Now bitch! You know damn well I got you covered. I cooked last night and made sure I made enough for the both of you!” Babs said and flashed a fake smile at Meka before turning her attention back to me. “Now, I know this shit boutta hit your ribs like a missile but there aren't any leftovers because your greedy ass brother-in-law handled that. I don’t think they fed him in prison.” We both burst out laughing.  

“Do not play with him bitch!” I said and smiled hard. I was so happy for Babs and Leaf too. They both deserved the happiness they afforded each other. Philadelphia had been good to us both and I was grateful that Babs had chosen this place for us to live. It was similar to Baltimore, but we had a fresh start here. It was peace – except when Babs’ past followed us here. My mood shifted immediately, and I assume it was noticeable.  

“I am so sorry that this happened to you. I put it on Mae that I’m going to handle it. I know Kat is my blood, but you are more of my sister than she has ever been. Shellz, I am going to handle it.” Babs seemed sincere but I knew better than anyone that Kat was Babs’ weakness.  

“Friend, did we not just have a conversation about worrying?” Meka asked me. She had now stood up beside me and began rubbing my face. After closing my eyes, I felt my entire body begin to calm down. Meka always knew what to do to get me in a good space.  

“I do not trust that bitch!” Babs whispered in my ear before kissing my cheek. “I love you and I will just leave you two for now. Reek will be back shortly. He’s handling some business at the Rec with Leaf. Enjoy the food. Charge that damn phone Shelly Shellz.” Babs flashed another fake smile at Meka and left. I did not open my eyes to respond nor did acknowledge her departure. I must have dozed off because I woke up to Meka’s phone ringing repeatedly, but Meka was knocked out on the lounger chair next to my bed, snoring lightly. I closed my eyes to go back to sleep but after a three second pause, her phone started ringing again.  

“Damn!” I said out loud to no one in particular. That phone was annoying the fuck out of me. “MEKA!” I screamed as the phone began ringing for the third time. Startled, she jumped up and her phone dropped.  

“What’s wrong?” She asked frantically.  

“You mean to tell me that you cannot hear that phone ringing?”  

“I did not. My apologies for being exhausted.” Meka responded sarcastically and I immediately felt bad.  

“My bad boo. My head is just hurting and the back to back ringing was a bit much.” 

“Back to back ringing?” 

“Yes. Someone really needs to get in touch with you.” I said as she picked up her phone and her mood shifted. If I wasn’t mistaken, she looked worried.   

“What’s wrong?” I asked concerned.  

“It’s my job.” She said and masked her true emotions with a phony smile. “No worries. Get you some rest.” She said and I closed my eyes. Just laying there, I had no plans of going to sleep. I wanted to know why she had just lied to me. After about 5 minutes, Meka stepped in the hallway to return the call of whomever was trying to reach her.  

“Hello? You cannot keep calling me like that. Are you crazy? She is not dead. She is very much alive and well.” She paused to listen to the caller before starting to talk again. “What? I am outside the room. Look, I have not had any sleep in days. I cannot do this right now. When she is released from the hospital. . .” She paused again. “Yes, WHEN she is released from the hospital then we can see how to move forward but for now, I gotta go Kat.” She ended the call and let out a deep breath as she re-entered the room. I pretended to be sleep for a few minutes more before letting out a fake yawn and peeping my eyes open. I noticed that Meka was crying but her tears did not move me. This bitch set me up and kat knew just how to put her in my path.  

“Are you okay friend?” I put on a fake groggy voice and pretended as if I was straining to open my eyes.  

“Yes, I’m okay.” She hurried to wipe her eyes. “Don’t worry about me. My boss is tripping.”  

“Girl, go home, rest, go to work!”  

“What? I almost lost you. I am not leaving your side.” She said softly. Damn, this bitch was a professional pretender.  

“Cool. Well, we should eat some good food at least. Where is the bag of food?” I asked. She handed me the bag that Babs left and sat my bed up a bit. I could smell the great aroma of the food before I even opened the bag. Babs was definitely a chef in another life. As I pulled out the contents of the bag, I noticed a note from Babs. It read: ‘Three blinks and a wink.’ With a smiley face at the end. I laughed a little. The smilie face was a symbol that the phrase was our code for danger or a problem. “Can you hand me the phone?” 

“Who in the world you calling? Do not be calling that crazy sister of yours to get yourself all worked up again. You know you can not leave if your blood pressure consistently elavated.”  

“She does not get me worked up. That’s on me and my own shit; not her. Besides, I just wanna thank her for the food.” Against her better judgment, she handed me the hospital phone. As soon as Babs answered, I took a fork full of my food and said, “Biiiiiiiiiitch this food is amazing. It’s bitch three winks and a blink! Okayyyy!”