Twenty-four hours later, Lamesha stood with Calvin outside of a hotel room on the sixteenth floor of the Marriott hotel. Calvin rapped on the door and smiled over at her. She didn't smile back. She was too nervous to do that.
Lamesha frowned when Ricardo pulled the door open and gave them a sly-looking grin. “Well, come on in...let's get this party started.”
Lamesha licked her lips in a nervous type of way. She felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach from just thinking about what was about to go down. She followed Calvin into the room. At least she knew she looked good in the slinky black minidress and six-inch stilettos. She tried to take decent care of her body. She wasn’t the fittest person on Earth, but she knew she got her fair share of attention.
Her eyes began to dart around the hotel suite, taking in everything. She could tell that it was nice in there, but she couldn't make out all of the fine details of the room because of the mellow lighting in the comfortable space.
Lamesha's eyes were drawn to a long sofa that was pushed against a wall in the suite. A voluptuous girl, who looked like she was Puerto Rican or Mexican, smiled sexily at them and waved. A slim white girl with long blonde hair and huge triple D fake boobs did the same. A very dark-skinned black guy with rippling muscles sat between the ladies. He licked his lips and stared at Lamesha in anticipation. She felt like he had undressed her with his dark eyes.
Ricardo closed the suite door behind him and made the introductions. They all were going by code names, no real names were revealed. Calvin and Lamesha, who were now C-Low and Foxy respectively, settled down on the empty loveseat.
Ricardo smiled at them all and nodded his head. “Well, ya'll all set now. I'll be back in four hours.” He winked at them as he stepped out of the suite. “Make sure to get yo' freaks on.”
Immediately after Ricardo had left them alone, Lamesha started feeling like she was about to have a panic attack. She still wasn't sure about what they were about to do. Her heart still wasn’t in it. Sensing her agitation, Calvin nudged her in the arm and said, “Everything's gonna be just fine.” He was talking to her, but his eyes were glued on the white girl's rack.
Noticing his interest, the white girl—whose code name was Snow—pulled her slinky dress down over her body and stepped out of it. She didn't have on any underwear or nothing, she was butt-naked. At that point, Lamesha knew that it was on.
Sitting in there watching her man attempt to have sex with another woman was making Lamesha feel some type of way. It was at that point that she realized that everything about the situation they were in was just wrong and she wasn’t gonna be down with it. She stood up and began leaving the room. But before she left, she shook her head and smiled in satisfaction. Calvin was obviously having the same problem with Snow that he’d been having with her. I guess he won’t be having no fireworks and explosions tonight after all. And my body’s mine. I ain’t sleeping with nobody I don’t want to just to satisfy somebody else.
<<<<<>>>>>
Fifteen Minutes Later:
Lamesha didn't say a word as Calvin drove them back to their apartment, and neither did he. But she could tell that he was mad and ready to blow up.
She’d already decided that she was going to forgive him for being with the girl back at the hotel, but she figured they needed to go to counseling or something to solve the problems they were having. She loved Calvin and he was her everything, so she refused to give up on them being together.
When they made it safely inside their place, Calvin turned to her with quiet rage in his eyes. “You didn’t follow through with the plan. I told you what I needed but you got up and left. Pack your shit and leave.”
He’s just angry. He’s disappointed. I know he didn’t mean what he just said.
“Did you hear me, girl?!”
“You need to calm down, Calvin. The sex party didn’t work out. So what? I been telling you that they have counselors for stuff like what we’re going through. I’ll find us one...a good one. They’ll help you get your groove back.”
She began walking towards the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. “I’ll even forgive you for sexing that girl back there. We can work this out, baby. Like I said, they have counselors for stuff like this.”
She was totally unprepared for him grabbing her by the hair and slamming her against the wall. He’d never put his hands on her before. Every bone in Lamesha’s body ached as she crumpled down to the carpet.
Calvin stooped down to where she was laying. Then he began quietly whispering in her ear in a dangerous sounding low voice. “I don’t need no damn counselors. What I need is a woman who’s down for me for whatever. A ride or die chick. Not a little girl who’s gonna punk out.” His breath was hot against her ear as he said, “I’m tired of you, Lamesha. Tired of hearing your mouth, seeing your face, putting up with you in every way. That’s the reason I can’t get a nut. You’re killing it. Now you can either pack your shit yourself or I can throw it out on the curb.”
Lamesha swallowed in fear. She knew at that point that he was for real. She scrambled away from him the best she could and began throwing her belongings into plastic trashbags. She knew she'd have to leave a good deal of her things, but she didn't care. She finally understood that Calvin didn’t really love her and she wasn't wanted there.
As Lamesha drove down the street in her Honda Accord with tears in her eyes, she didn't notice the truck that had run the red light until it was too late. A scream tore from her throat then everything faded to black.
<<<<<>>>>>
Donovan couldn't believe the scene that had just played out right in front of his eyes. He watched it like he was seeing a movie playing in slow motion. The Honda Accord flipped over three times, before finally landing on its hood in the ditch. He brought his car to a real quick stop and ran to the vehicle. He could smell the sharp odor of gasoline as he reached the tangled mess. His heart was beating a mile-a-minute as his saw the sista hanging in the seat belt inside. She was unconscious and her face was bloody. When he saw a little spark on the crumpled underside of the Accord, he knew he had to get her out of there in a quickness. “Ma'am...hey Shawty,” he screamed at her. No response.
Then just like that, flames began spreading over the top of the car and Donovan could feel the heat. He reached all the way inside and started pulling on the seatbelt latch, but it wouldn't loosen up. He knew they were running out of time, but he couldn't leave her. Think quick, think quick, bruh, he kept telling himself while forcing himself not to panic. I gotta get something to cut it. The seatbelt latch isn’t gonna work. Then, as if by some miracle, his eyes lighted on a piece of broken glass on the pavement. He knew that that shard was her only chance—their only chance.
He grabbed it and began sawing into the seatbelt. He didn't quit, even when the shard sliced into his flesh. He let out a sigh of relief when the seatbelt finally gave away. He pulled the girl away from the wreckage and cradled her in his arms. Trying to get them away from the danger zone, he ran like a NFL running back.
Lamesha's eyes slowly opened, her body in agonizing pain. She knew that someone was carrying her, but she didn't know who or why. Her eyes met the stranger's eyes briefly—they were the darkest, most beautiful black that she'd ever seen. Through the fog in her brain and through her intense pain she could here him whispering, “We're gonna make it, gorgeous.” He said it over and over again.
She frowned as a loud explosion sounded, the force of the violent blast throwing them both to the ground. As her head slammed against the pavement, the world around her disappeared again. She was swallowed by the darkness.
<<<<<>>>>>
“Hey girl, how you feeling? I see you trying to open your eyes. Go ‘head, boo. You can do it.”
Lamesha’s head was pounding something terrible. It felt like she was having the hangover from hell. She felt at least five times worse than she had when she’d gotten herself drunk a month ago celebrating her twenty-first birthday. What she couldn’t figure out was why Yvette was now in her room with her. They didn’t roll like that...hadn’t rolled like that in a very long time.
“Yeah, baby girl. Gone ‘head and open your eyes.”
Mama, she thought to herself when she heard the second voice. Then she tried to frown. But the frown wasn’t happening ‘cause it made her face hurt. But she was finally able to open her eyes though. It was only a sliver, but they were open.
Why in the world are these two heifers — who I haven't been kicking it with in three years — here with me?
Lamesha's mama smiled at her. "Welcome back, Mesha. Welcome back, baby."
Yvette smiled too. She began nodding her head. "I told you she'd be waking up any day now, Mama Diana. Them fool doctor’s didn’t know what they was talking about. They might know medicine and all, but God’s a healer.”
Now Lamesha was really confused. When she tried to move her arm so that she could sit herself up, she finally noticed the IV that was strapped to her hand. I'm in the hospital. Something done happened to me.
Then she began thinking: Where’s Calvin? Then she started remembering. He dumped my butt. Then she got angry. He put his hands on me. He did this to me. That’s why I’m in the hospital. The memories were coming back fast to her now. No, I ran out of his place. I was driving...not paying attention...accident.
Then confirming what she’d just been thinking, her mama gave her hand that didn’t have an IV on it a little squeeze and said, “You were in an accident, baby. But God sent a stranger who pulled you outta that car before it blew up. You were in a coma. But now that you done woke up, you gonna be just fine.”
Yvette nodded her head. “Yeah, boo. You gone be just fine. I been praying for you ever since we ran into each in the mall a week ago.” She smiled. “I guess the prayers worked. Lord knows it was a miracle that you made it out of that accident alive. And according to the doctors here at this hospital, it was gonna be a miracle if you woke up.” Some tears came into Yvette’s eyes at that moment. “But God’s in the blessing business and he brought you back to us.”
A week ago? I been in this hospital a whole week? Doctor’s didn’t think I was gonna make it?
All the messed up details of the life she’d been living seemed to suddenly flash in her mind. God saved me, God saved me. She knew he hadn’t had to do it but she was glad that he had.
Her mama gave her hand another little squeeze. “I’m sorry about what happened between us all them years ago, Lamesha. I shouldn’t have let you leave like I did. I shoulda said something...I shoulda worked things out with you.” Then her frown deepened. “I went by Calvin’s place soon as I found out about the accident. I know he broke up with you...kicked you out. You can come on back home and get yourself back together. We can start over.”
Lamesha knew she wanted to do exactly that...start over with her mother. She’d been missing her mama something terrible over the past three years. She knew her mama wasn’t perfect, but she was the only parent that she had. And yeah, Lamesha loved her.
Her body was in pain, but she felt the urge to smile. "Imma make some changes. I'm tired of living the life that I was living. Soon as I get out of here, it's gonna be a different Lamesha.” She was grateful for everything that God had just done for her. "Y'all gonna see.”
Yvette felt like giving her girl a hug, but she held back because she knew she was still in pain. “I believe you, Lamesha.
“Me too, baby. God is good ain’t he?”
She nodded her head. “Yes, he is mama. Yes he is.”