Finest City Dreams

Chapter 22: Rain On Me

Charles had spaced out for a bit. He couldn't believe what he was hearing on his voicemail. His cousin Chafonda had been shot. Charles dialed up Savannah. As he was waiting for Savannah to pick up, he shook Datika awake. "Hey, you gonna have to bounce." Datika woke up groggy and confused. "Huh?" "You gotta go!" Datika sucked her teeth and shook her head. She rose up out the bed and grabbed her shoes off the floor. Not bothering to put them on, Datika went out the door barefoot. Savannah answered the phone. "Charles!" "What's going on?" "Chafonda is okay. She had to have surgery." "Uh huh....look, Imma get a flight as soon as I can." Suddenly there was banging at Charles's door. "Savannah, Imma call you as soon as I get to Daygo. Okay, bye!"

Charles walked to the door and opened it. It was Lauryce in tears. Charles and Lauryce hugged each other. Lauryce buried her face in Charles's chest while sobbing. When the embrace was over, Charles placed both of his hands on Lauryce's shoulders. He looked her in the eye. "Hey, we gotta be strong for Fondy." Lauryce just nodded her head while wiping the tears on her face. "Look, I'm gonna call my dad so that he can book us a flight." "Okay."

Lauryce sat down in a chair. "I'm so stupid!" Charles looked over at Lauryce. "Whatchu talkin' bout?" Lauryce took a sigh. "The day before we left for New York, Chafonda and I got into it." Charles's eyebrows rose. "Over what?" "Well lately I've been noticing that her wardrobe has been changing. She's been dressing more feminine. When I met her, she was a straight up tomboy. So I confronted her about it. I just don't like the attention that she's been receiving from the opposite sex, the same sex. I'm just not use to it. But now that I think about it, the argument was silly."

Charles called his father Jimmy. As soon as he was on the phone, there was a knock at the door. Charles opened the door while still on the phone. It was Marcus and Red. The both of them came in Charles's suite confused. They saw Lauryce sitting in a chair looking down. Marcus and Red walked up to Lauryce. "Hey, what's goin on?" Lauryce looked up at Marcus teary eyed. "Chafonda's in the hospital. She's been shot." Marcus and Red both got wide eyed. "What!? Damn man! Is Fondy okay?" Lauryce wiped her face. "She's okay. She's recovering." Marcus and Red shook their head. 

Charles got off the phone with his father. "My Pops is going to get us a flight." Charles walked over to Marcus and Red. "Hey, I'm sorry that we gotta cut our trip short. But...." Marcus gave Charles some dap. "We understand. Handle that playboy!" Charles also dapped up Red. "We gotta plan somethin' else." Marcus and Red nodded. "Fo Sho! Tell Fondy that we'll be thinking about her." Charles nodded. "I will." Marcus and Red left Charles's room.

Some minutes later, Jimmy called Charles back. He had booked a flight for himself, Charles and Lauryce. "My Pops got us a flight leaving at 7:30pm."  Lauryce stood up from her chair. "I better get back to the room and start packing." Charles walked with Lauryce to the door. "I'll see you in the lobby." Lauryce nodded. "Okay." Lauryce and Charles hugged once again. When they were done hugging, Lauryce walked to the elevator. Charles went back in his room closing the door behind him. He sat on the edge of his bed. Charles would break down crying with his hands buried in his face. He hardly ever cried in front of people. Charles wanted to give off the image that he was strong minded. A few hours would pass. It was time for Charles, Jimmy and Lauryce to leave New York. They all went to the airport and boarded the plane. They arrived in San Diego early the next morning. They wouldn't see Chafonda till later that day.