Victorie (Urban Fiction)

Chapter 12

"Thanks for making me look stupid in there Jaison," I said when we were in the car.
"Fuck you talking about?" Jaison asked.
"I had words with that bitch Asia over you earlier, and then you come in there skinning and grinning in another bitch's face," I fumed. "How you think that makes me look and feel?"
"How does it make you feel?" he repeated. "Hell I don't know, and I really don't give a damn."
"What?!" I hollered. I was heated. "You don't give a damn?"
"That's what I just said ain't it!!" he hollered back. "I'm not your man remember. I'm just somebody you did a song with."
"You know what, take me home Jaison!" I hollered.
"Just sit back and shut the fuck up!" he told me. "We going to this rehearsal first."
I was so mad that I was crying. I turned towards the window so he wouldn't see me.
We rode in silence the rest of the way.
"Here Victorie," he said handing me a tissue when we stopped. "Fix your face. I didn't mean to make you cry."
"I'm fine Jaison," I said snatching the tissues.
"Look that was an old classmate of mine," he said. "You keep me so confused Torie. It's like you might want me and then at the same time you don't. I don't know what to do. I think it's best if we just keep everything as a business arrangement. I'll only contact you if it's concerning the festival. Now let's go get to work."
"Fine," I agreed. "Let's get to work."

The rehearsal space was wonderful. It was a dance studio with mirrors on the wall. "We're rehearsing here so we'll be able to see our movements and tweak what we need to fix. The track is gonna be backing us instead of a live band at the festival," Jaison explained as he plugged his phone into the speakers. "You need to warm up?"
"No I'm good," I said. "Let's start."
He turned the song on and we grabbed a mic. I sang my parts and danced around when it was time for his verses. When it got to the end of the track where we were supposed to say the lyrics together, he stood behind me to dance with me, and I quickly moved.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked. "We gone have to interact at some point during the song. The audience is gone be expecting it."
"My bad," I said. "Let's take it from the top."
He restarted the track, and we rehearsed a couple more times.
"I think we damn near perfected it, so we can head home now," he said.

To say that the ride back was weird would be an understatement. Jaison didn't say two words to me. He just turned the radio and had car karaoke like he was riding alone. I just stared out the window feeling like an ass. Donkey of the day goes to Victorie!!

"What time you work tomorrow?" he asked me when we pulled up to my house.
"I'm off," I replied.
"Good," he said. "Maybe we can rehearse earlier in the day."
"Ok," I said.
"I'll let you know what time," he said. "You can come in your own car."
"Sure," I said getting out. Soon as my door closed, Jaison sped off.

"Damn you look like shit," my mama said. "What's wrong? You crying. Did something happen?"
"I just had a rough day that's all," I answered.
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked.
"No," I replied. "Just give me Zuri so we can take a bath."
"I already bathed her," she said. "You go and take you a nice soak. It'll help to clear your mind."
Just as I was about to take off my clothes, gunshots rang out. I quickly ducked. After it subsided, I quickly rushed to check on my mom and Zuri.
Zuri, startled by the commotion, was crying. I quickly picked her up and held her close.
"Oh my Lord!" my mama panicked. "Joy's outside!!"
Running out the door, we ran smack into Joy who was running inside crying hysterically. "They shot Bryant and Sherry!!" she hollered. "They killed him!! They shot him five times!! I saw it!!" She was shaking so badly.

Bryant, CeCe's baby daddy, lived two houses down from us. Shortly after the house down the street was taped off, and the coroner's van was picking up his body. Sherry, his sister, was in critical condition. Word on the block was that Bryant had did a drive by that killed three dudes across town, and this was retaliation. Of course no one told the police this. Nobody except for Zuri slept a wink that night. Joy kept waking up screaming through out the night. We took turns trying to comfort her the best we could.

The next morning, my phone buzzed with a text from Jaison. It simply said 2. I didn't even bother to respond. His phone would show that I'd seen it. We moved through the house like zombies. Mama was sipping on wine to calm her nerves while Joy just stared off into space. She hadn't spoken since yesterday. It was like she'd died too. We didn't know how to help her. At one something, I gathered Zuri and Joy to take with me to rehearsal. I wanted to give mama a break, and get Joy away from there.

Jaison was pulling up at same time I was, so I sent Joy inside with Zuri so I could talk to him. "I have Joy and Zuri with me because things are hectic at home. There was another murder yesterday," I said.
"I heard about it," he said. "CeCe's taken another loss."
"Joy witnessed it Jaison," I said. "She's hurting. She won't even talk. I don't know what to do."
"Damn man," he said. "I don't know either Torie. Nobody can help her if she don't open up."
"I'm just so sick of this shit," I cried.
"I know," he said hugging me. "This here is hopefully our first step to getting away from it."
"I know," I said.
"Well let's make it happen then," he said.

During our second time practicing the song, Joy suddenly burst into tears. "Come on baby girl," Jaison said stopping the music. "Let's step outside."
They were gone for about ten minutes before they came back in. " Torie let me holla at you real quick," he called out to me.
"What's going on? What happened?!" I questioned.
"She knows one of the boys that killed Bryant," Jaison revealed. "She said it's this senior that she goes to school with. She's scared that he might kill her next because she witnessed it. She can't sleep because she keeps seeing him in her dreams."
"Well what am I supposed to do?" I asked.
"I reassured her that we would never let anything happen to her. I promised her," he said. "I think you should get her some sleep aids, so she'll at least get some sleep. But don't let her sleep alone."
"Ok," I said. "I'll stop by CVS on the way home. Thank you."
"I know you exhausted, so we'll just come back here another day to rehearse," he said.
We then went inside to grab our things. On the way home, I stopped at CVS for some melatonin and then at McDonald's to try to get Joy to eat something.

That night Joy slept in my bed. She didn't wake up, but she did thrash around and cry in her sleep. I'd simply wrap my arms around her and whisper that I'm here and it's ok. Then she'd stop.