“I wish you would stop all that noise,” the nurse teased. The slow tapping of Adrian’s fingers on his cast was driving her insane.
“Huh? Oh my bad,” Adrian replied in a half sleep state. He had finally made it home from the hospital, however the injuries he sustained were major; a concussion, ruptured eye socket, three cracked ribs, a fractured shoulder, a shattered femur due to the gunshot wound on his left knee, and several contusions across his body. Not only did he still have a cast on his leg, he was having migraines and still hadn’t regained full use of his right eye. He had to have a visiting nurse five days a week. His mom took over on the weekends.
The duration of his recovery time so far had been a combination of sleep, being hopped up on pain medication, and grueling physical therapy. As a matter of fact he’d been so out of it that he still hadn’t fully wrapped his brain around what had happened to him. At this point he was still in a state of shock and denial. Not to mention the fact that since his concussion his memory dipped in and out. What he could remember played out like a nightmare that he tried hard to forget. He figured if he pushed the painful memories to the back of his mind it was like they didn’t exist. The only reality for him was the dreaded memory of his son AJ. He was out there someone with that lunatic Pebbles. He made a vow to himself just as he did when his sister Tasha was killed; he wouldn’t rest until her killer was caught and brought to justice. In this case Pebbles was both a murderer and a kidnapper.
So far the only lead he had was a card he found of the doctor she was seeing when she pretended to have eggs extracted. The very thought of how many lies were fed to him made almost as sick to the stomach as knowing his wife, the love of his life was really a man.
This muthafucka’ was Pebbles’ primary physician. He sat right up in Adrian’s face and lied about the procedure, as well as what he was treating her for. He had to be in on the plot. The only question was why. What the hell was he getting out of the deal? Who knows, maybe he and Pebbles were running the scam together the whole time. In any case all he needed was proof, and that’s what exactly what he intended to get. By now he was certain that the FBI had exhausted all efforts in question the Doc. Still, that didn’t stop Adrian. He knew that quack had something to do with his son’s disappearance and he was determined to prove it one way or another.
When the nurse stepped out for a break he made his call.
“Dr Johnson’s office, how may I direct your call?” the receptionist asked.
“Yes, is the doctor available?” Adrian asked.
“He’s just finishing up with a patient. Would you like to hold? It may be a few moments.”
“Yes I’ll wait.”
“Great! Who shall I say is calling?”
“Tell him it’s Pebbles.”
What the hell does she want? I thought I was finally done with this crazy bitch? Why is she still stalking me? The Doc thought. She got some fucking nerve after that shit she pulled at the convention. Got the police all up on my ass, I don’t need this shit. I gotta get rid of this hoe once and for all.
After instructing the receptionist to hold all calls and appointments he reluctantly picked up the phone.
“Listen here Pebbles we don’t have any business! Don’t contact me here again!” The Doc shouted.
“Where should I contact you at then?” Adrian asked.
“What? Who is this?” The Doc asked nervously, now realizing that his anger may have caused him to speak to soon.
“It’s Adrian, Pebbles’ husband.”
What the fuck is he contacting me for?” The Doc thought. “I don’t need any more unneeded heat. I done already told the police I don’t know shit.
For a split second he thought about hanging up the phone but he figured that it would be best to play it cool.
“Ahem... yes Mr. Ramsey, how may I help you?”
“You sure picked up the phone with the quickness when you thought it was Pebbles. What the hell kind of damn scam are you two running? And where the hell is my son?” Adrian fumed.
“Now just a minute, I don’t know what you are talking about,” The Doc replied defensibly.
“Bullshit! You were in on every lie Pebbles told about not being able to have children, extracting eggs, and the real egg donor, hell you knew she was man the whole time and didn’t say shit. Did that surrogate Fallyn come from your office? You know she’s dead right? Did you know that Pebbles killed her? Did you know that she tried to kill me?”
Adrian hurled the questions and accusations at The Doc with lightning speed. He was determined to get to the truth or at least trip him up in a lie. Little to his knowledge, despite The Doc being nervous, he was prepared to answer anything that was asked of him.
“Slow down, I don’t know anything about your son missing. I told the same thing to the police. I have given them my full cooperation. Pebbles and I are not in any kind of scheme together,” he responded confidently. He’d already skated past prison from his encounter with Club Double Cup, he wasn’t about to let this young punk assed nigga catch him up.
“Then why lie nigga? Why the hell didn’t you say anything about that muthafucka being a man when I was in your office?”
“Patient/ doctor confidentiality agreement, I’m not required to share that information. Besides, how would I know you didn’t know? I’m not up in y’all’s bedroom. I mean that’s a shame what happened to those girls, but as I stated before. I don’t know anything.”
“Those girls have a name. One is Tasha, my sister, the other is Fallyn. She killed them both. There is a cold blooded killer on the loose with my son and you holding out on information. Did you tell the police about the surrogate and donor? Did you tell them that you lied to a patient’s husband about the procedures being performed? Even if you couldn’t share the information about her being a man, that was still some foul shit that went down. How do you sleep at night?” Adrian asked.
This nigga really thought he had something on the Doc. Little did he know that soon as Fallyn came up dead Dr Johnson destroyed all files from Pebbles, Fallyn, and the donor. He knew it was only going to be a matter of time before the FBI came knocking and he made sure they didn’t find shit. At this point it was Adrian’s word against his. However, despite how everything went down he did actually feel remorse about what happened to Fallyn, seeing as he helped give Pebbles the tools she needed to kill her. It was a mistake he would have to live with for the rest of his life and he prayed for forgiveness every night. He felt bad for Adrian also. He realized that he was a desperate man, grasping for anything he could find out about his son. For that reason he decided that he would at least come halfway straight with him.
“I knew she used to be a man but I didn’t feel the need to pass the word. Hell I figured you were her husband, you should have already known. How the hell was I supposed to know she was lying to your ass?”
“The fact that you were lying for her about having endometriosis and not being able to have kids! That’s how!” Adrian snapped. Is this bastard even listening to himself?
Touché my nigga, the Doc thought. “Look imma keep it 100. I went along with the lie about Pebbles not being able to get pregnant cause I was getting paid, plain and simple. A nigga trying to get his hustle on just like everybody else, I didn’t know anything would become of it. And I will admit I did have feelings for Mittens but she was in love with you.”
“Who the fuck is Mittens?”
“That was my nickname for Pebbles; once upon a time she had the sexiest man hands I had ever laid eyes on. I had a crush on her but that’s as far as it went, I swear.”
Adrian sighed, as much as he hated to admit it The Doc actually sounded like he was telling the truth. There was no question that he was a weirdo his damn self and he could have gone on taking shots at his character all day long, but that still wouldn’t make him know anything, or tell it if he did. And it certainly wasn’t going to bring his son back. At the end of the day he was just a simple minded asshole that was out for a dollar and for all he knew Pebbles could have threatened him as well. The best he could hope for was to try and stay on The Doc’s good side in case she tried to contact him.
“Either you don’t know shit, or you ain’t saying shit,” Adrian hissed. “Whatever the case may be, I need you to call me immediately if she contacts you. I’ll make it worth your while. When was the last time you heard from her?” he asked.
When that crazy muthafucka crashed my convention, attacked my woman and ran off with my shit! The Doc thought, but he couldn’t say any of this to Adrian. Nor could he tell him that Pebbles contacted him before she fled town.
“I haven’t seen or heard from her since she last visited the office with you,” he replied.
Sensing that he wasn’t going to get any more information out of the Doc. Adrian decided to cut the conversation short.
“Alright well like I said; contact me if you hear from her.”
“Will do,” The Doc responded before hanging up the phone in relief. He had skated past trouble once again.