I don’t’ know how I made it back to work in one piece, but I did. I’d just gotten off at six that morning and was back at two that afternoon to work a double. I was here damn near more than I was at home. The overtime money was nice, but my side hustle money was even better. I needed every penny I could get. Helping Terrell out was wearing me down. It was like taking care of two households instead of one. Terrell went job hunting every day, but he still hadn’t found anything. He had a few promising interviews and I hoped like hell somebody hired him soon. I didn’t know how much longer I could do this, especially since Bentley would probably be home any day now. Even though he was given six months, he most likely wouldn’t have to do that much time. The jail was already overcrowded so they were releasing non- violent offenders left and right. He would kill us both if he knew what was going on. As hard as I tried not to, I ended up catching feelings for Terrell. I didn’t plan on giving him up when Bentley came home so I would have to find a way around it. Sneaking around wasn’t going to be a problem for Terrell since he wanted to keep our relationship hidden anyway. I walked into the break room and went straight to my locker. There was a note taped to the front so I pulled it off before I opened it. Once I secured my purse in my locker, I sat down and read the note that was attached. “Aww man,” I sighed as I read what the letter said. My supervisor Tanya, whom I hated by the way, called a meeting right before I was scheduled to clock in. I was pissed because I would have to stay at work longer to make up for the time I’d miss. She was always calling these boring ass meetings just to remind everyone that she was in charge. I hated to pull into the parking lot and see her car here because bullshit was always sure to follow. “Hey girl.” My co- worker Donna said when she entered the break room. “Hey,” I spoke back. “I guess you have to stay longer for the meeting huh?” “What meeting?” She asked, stopping in her tracks. I showed her the letter that was taped to my locker and watched as she read over the contents. “I didn’t get a letter so I guess whatever she has to say doesn’t apply to me. I’ve been here for sixteen hours and I’m tired. I’m not staying a minute longer for none of her boring ass meetings. Don’t even tell anybody that you told me. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said as she exited the break room. I knew that feeling all too well and I didn’t blame her for running out of here. I got up from the table and started making my way to the empty board room where all of our meetings were usually held. When I got there, Tanya was already there along with two other women whom I’ve never seen before. “Have a seat Ms. Carter,” Tanya said. Before I had a chance to sit down, Lilly, one of the nurses I worked with, came into the room and was instructed to sit down too. Immediately I knew that something was wrong. Lilly was an LPN so she was never in the same meetings as the CNA’s. We made eye contact and I could tell that she was wondering what was going on just like I was. We didn’t have to wonder for long because Tanya started talking as soon as we were both seated. “I know you’re both wondering why I called you in here, so I’ll get right to the point. Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Landry are here from the Louisiana Board of Nursing. Some discrepancies have been brought to our attention concerning some of the patients’ medications,” she said all in one breath. Lilly lowered her head, but I looked straight ahead without showing any kind of emotion. Tanya grabbed a stack of papers and continued talking. “I have paperwork that was signed by the both of you stating that medication was administered to patients which they never received. Some of the paperwork is dated back to last year. We also show that medication was still being signed out for some patients who had passed away or were no longer in the facility at the time,” she said. I was numb. There was no getting out of this. We were busted and they had the paperwork to prove it. Working like a dog for sixteen hours a day still wasn’t enough to make ends meet so when Lilly approached me with a great idea, I took her up on her offer. Some of these patients slept all day every day, but they were being prescribed sleeping pills. Some of them were on their death beds, but were being fed high dosages of pain pills. So instead of giving them what we felt they didn’t need, Lilly and I would sign the medication out and keep it for ourselves to sell. According to her, there was no way that we could get caught. She was obviously wrong. I couldn’t understand how they found out what was going on. I don’t know who Lilly talked to, but I’d only told a handful of people and those were the ones who I sold the pills to. Tanya was still talking, but I was oblivious as to what she was saying. I looked over to my left and saw Lilly bawling like a baby so whatever she was saying couldn’t have been good. It was of no use to me to sit here any longer and I made it known. “So now what?” I asked defiantly. Mrs. Smith looked at me and shook her head in disgust before she replied. “What happens now, Ms. Carter, is you will be terminated and your CNA License will be revoked indefinitely. The only reason you’re not being prosecuted is because your supervisor declined to press charges.” That came as a surprise to me. I always thought Tanya hated me, but I guess I was wrong. Not only was I being fired, but I wouldn’t be able to work as a CNA anywhere in Louisiana without a license. “Anything else?” I asked with sarcasm lacing my voice. Tanya looked at me like I was crazy before she responded. “No, that’s all. The security guard will escort you to your locker to get your things. You’ll also need to leave your I.D. card and keys with him before you leave,” she said. I stood up and almost ran to the door that led out of the room. I was greeted by our security guard as soon as the door opened. I handed him my badge and keys as he followed me to my locker. Once I was done, he escorted me out of the building and locked the door. When I got to my car, there was an envelope under the windshield wipers. I removed it and threw it in my purse that was now resting in the passenger’s seat. Even though I tried to put on a brave face in the meeting, I was a wreck inside. This job was my only source of income and now it was gone. Bentley was going to kill me. He knew what I was doing to get extra money for us, but he was still going to be pissed. Terrell would definitely have to find a job soon because I couldn’t do a damn thing for him without a job. Before I realized it, I felt the warmth of the tears as they glided down my face. I usually wasn’t one to cry, but so much was going wrong in my life lately. I felt so alone. With all the wrong I’d done to others, I guess karma was bound to catch up to me sooner or later. A knock on my window scared me back to reality. I looked up and saw another one of my co- workers, Lisa, standing there looking at me pitifully. “What’s wrong chick?” She asked in a concerned voice. Lisa was cool, but I didn’t consider her a friend. We’d worked together for about a year and I still didn’t know much about her. “Besides just getting fired, I’m fine,” I said looking up at her. “Damn, I’m sorry to hear that, but I wouldn’t be crying over that shit. That little money they paying ain’t nothing,” she said waving me off. “Maybe not to you, but I have bills.” “And I don’t?” She asked pointing at herself, “I have four kids boo. Trust me when I say I have many more bills than you do. Today is my last day too. I just gave my notice,” she said with a huge smile on her face. I wondered what kind of job she had found. I knew she had kids, but I never knew she had four. She just bought a new car a few months ago and she was standing here smiling like everything was good. “So where do you work now?” I asked curiously, “I might need a hook up.” “At She She’s,” she answered proudly. “The strip club!” I yelled in surprise. “Yes, the strip club. Don’t sleep on it boo. I make more there in three nights than I made here in two weeks,” she replied. “My brother is the bouncer over there so it’s safe. I can put you on if you want me to. All you need is some sexy lingerie,” she said. “As bad as I need a job, I’ll have to pass on that one,” I said. “Well you know the number if you change your mind. They looking for some new faces so you need to think about it,” she said as she walked off. Lisa wasn’t the prettiest girl I’d ever seen, but she had a shape that any woman would die for, including me. She had enough ass to last her a lifetime while mine could barely fill out a pair of jeans. She could make a lot of money with the body she had, but I wasn’t so sure about me. I had a cute face, but besides my ample breasts, I wasn’t much in the figure department. I sat there deep in thought, but it didn’t take long for me to figure out that stripping would probably be my only option for now. I called Lisa and told her that I was on board. She told me what time to meet her at the club and what I needed to bring with me. Needless to say I didn’t have anything that I needed so a trip to the mall was in order. I only had about three hundred dollars before I was completely broke so I hope Lisa was right about me being able to make money. I pulled up to the Macy’s entrance at Lakeside Mall and killed my engine. I took a deep breath, desperately trying to compose myself before I went inside the mall. There was no turning back once I spent my last three hundred dollars so I had to be sure that this is what I really wanted to do. I got out of the car and headed for the double doors. I saw a car that looked familiar to me, but I had to get up close to be sure. Just like I thought, it was indeed who I assumed it was. “What’s up Jay?” I said as I walked up on the driver’s side of the car. He looked up and frowned as soon as he saw who was speaking to him. “Girl, if you don’t get your ratchet ass away from my car,” he said with disgust written all over his face. I was taken aback for a minute by his attitude. He was all nice and sweet a few months ago when I called to tell him about Beyonce being in the club with another man. I guess if it wasn’t benefitting him, he didn’t want to be bothered. “Damn, I was just hollering at you. You don’t have to do all that,” I said in my own defense. I wanted to ask him when he got out, but he made that impossible for me to do. He rolled up his window to let me know that he was done talking. I kept walking and entered the mall, preparing to get what I needed. I headed straight for the lingerie department and was surprised yet again. “Hey girl. What are you doing in here?” I asked as I walked up on Beyonce. She was in the lingerie department paying for her purchases. She looked me up and down like she didn’t know who I was. I was about to say something else, but she stopped me with what she had to say. “Let’s get a few things straight before we go any further. I don’t need you to tell Micheal anything about me and Jay. If I want him to know something, I’ll tell him myself. I know you got a little crush on him and all, but he’s way out of your league so let it go. You already know that you don’t want it with me so mind your fucking business and while you’re at it, get you a life bitch,” she snapped, “And you’re in the wrong Mall. They don’t have a rainbow in here,” she laughed. She grabbed her bags and left me standing there looking like a damn fool. I should have known that Micheal was going to tell her what I said. She had him trained the exact same way she had Jay. Thinking of Jay, a thought had just crossed my mind. It couldn’t be a coincidence that they were both in the same place at the same time, unless they were together. I turned around and headed for the same door that I walked through a few minutes ago. I didn’t go all the way back outside because I didn’t want to be seen by anyone. I made it to the door just in time to see Jay's car backing out of the parking lot with Beyonce in the passenger’s seat. “ Bingo!” I said, smiling to myself. She was just in here checking me about one man, but was riding around with the other. I kept saying Beyonce was a hoe, but nobody seemed to believe me. I turned around and headed back to the lingerie department with a huge grin on my face. It was going to be very interesting to see how this all played out. Jay was not the type to play the role of a side nigga and I didn’t think Micheal was either. Thirty minutes later, I was walking up to the register with over one hundred fifty dollars’ worth of lingerie. I made sure I bought items that I already had shoes to match. I reached in my purse for my wallet and pulled out the envelope that was left on my car instead. I didn’t know what it was, but my mind took me back to when I’d left a copy of the paternity test on Jay's car. Curiosity got the best of me so I got out of the line and sat in a chair that was next to the register. I opened the envelope and pulled out the letter that was inside. Someone had printed a copy of the different locations, days, and hours that the unemployment office was open. At the bottom of the letter, the words, “CHECKMATE BITCH” was written in bold red letters with the letter “I” being dotted with a heart. It didn’t take long for me to figure out who that someone was and I was surprised that I didn’t think of it before. Courtney was the only person I knew who dotted her “I’s” with a heart. She was also one of the people who knew what I was doing at work. I sold sleeping pills to her and her sisters on several occasions. I put the letter back in my purse and resumed my position at the register. I smiled as I thought about how much heart Courtney actually had. Of all of the people that ran across my mind, she was not one of them. I should have known she wasn’t going to go away so easily, but I definitely underestimated her this time. It was all good because I had a million more tricks up my sleeve just for her. It was crazy how she played the game and won with everyone else, but she kept losing when it came to her husband. She had one thing right though, “Checkmate Bitch” because the next move was definitely on me
