SHARIECE
I almost forgot how good a bath felt. We had showers twice a week in the jail, but there’s nothing like soaking in a hot bubble bath. I was already starting to feel like a human being again. All I wanted to do was put the last couple of weeks behind me, pretend for just a short while that it never happened. I didn’t want to turn on the TV to find that I was being talked about. My cousin Sedrick’s cabin was the perfect getaway from the crazy city. “Baby, those hamburgers smell too good.” I walked out of the bathroom in my robe, toweling my hair dry.
“Hey, baby, did you miss me?” The sound of his voice curdled my blood. It was Myrick.
“What the fuck?”
“I’ve missed you so much.”
“How did you . . . where did you?”
“Speechless. That’s a good sign.”
I stumbled back until my hips hit the dresser that was on the right side of the bed. My heart rate quickened when I saw Myrick standing in front of me. “You’re supposed to be in prison.”
“They let me out on good behavior.”
“Get the hell out of my house.”
“Or what? You’re going to call your little boyfriend? Come on, Shariece, what are you doing, babysitting?”
“What did you do to Emjay?”
“Don’t worry about him. I took care of him.” I screamed as loud as I could, but stopped when I noticed the gun he was holding in his hand. “I took care of your little teenager.”
“What did you do to him, you crazy motherfucker?”
“Is that any way to talk to your soul mate?”
Myrick was the only thing that stood between me and the bedroom door. I felt along the dresser, grabbed up the ashtray, and hurled it at Myrick. I ran, but Myrick grabbed me and slung me onto the bed. He straddled me, pressing down on me with his weight. I punched and kicked, screaming for help. When I scratched him across the face, he gawked at me with wide-eyed anger and backhanded me across the face, and held the gun at my right temple. “Woman, what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this, Shariece? If anything, I should be the one pissed off, catching you kissing all over that fool in there. I could slit your throat and blame it on your little fuck buddy in there.” Myrick gently swept hair out of my face with the nose of the gun. “But you see I’m not going to do that. Your throat is much too pretty,” he said, as he ran the black steel along my chest, pushing open my robe. Myrick licked his lips when he stared at my wet breasts. All I could do was cry out as he circled the right nipple of my breast with the gun. “Damn, you’re beautiful.” I knew my only way out of this was to play by whatever sick game Myrick had in store. I caressed his arm to calm him down. His eyes began to soften, the irate expression on his face, relaxed. “If I take my hand away from your mouth, you promise not to scream?” I nodded yes. “The last thing I want to do, baby, is hurt you, but I will if you make me.” I nodded my head again. Myrick eased his hand away. Beads of sweat plummeted from his face. Myrick got off of me. I was careful not to make any sudden moves. I was frantic thinking about Emjay. “You have no idea the things I have done to get to you.”
“What do you want, Myrick?”
“I just want us to be together. I want it to be like it used to be.”
“It can’t be like it used to be.”
Myrick wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist. “Come on now. You wouldn’t say that if you knew how many people I had to kill to be with you.”
“Oh my God, what did you do?”
“Did you get any of my letters? I wrote to you every day.”
“I got your letters, but I threw them away. It made me sick to my stomach to so much as touch them after what you did to me.”
“It’s all good, boo. I’m better at confessing my undying love to you face to face anyway.” Myrick was scaring me the way he waved his gun about. “I had to pull some Veronica Mars shit to find you, but thanks to a loyal prison pen pal of mine, she was able to track you down. I told Krista about all the pain you caused me; how you were the reason I was locked up.”
“They should have given you life in prison.”
“She found out where you lived, where you worked, even where you did your banking. She should have been a private detective. She was much smarter than what she gave herself credit for. Too bad I had to kill her. She was a liability and would have ratted me out to the cops eventually.”
“You’re nothing but a cold-blooded murderer.”
“You want to watch your mouth with me. Don’t make me regret bailing you out of jail.” I looked at Myrick surprised by his revelation. “It was nothing, really. Anything for my girl.”
As Myrick continued running off at the mouth, it had come to me. “Oh my God, it was you, wasn’t it? You killed Deandre?”
“Who? Oh, you mean that perverted fuck that tried to rape you?”
“You were there?”
“Hell yeah, I was there. I followed you to his crib that night. I thought he was your little teenage boyfriend, but I found out he wasn’t when I saw that . . . boy kissing on you at the jail. It’s just as well though. I took care of them both.” Tears welled in my eyes, streaking my face. “Ah, come on, girl. Why the waterworks? This is a celebration. You and I are finally reunited. Reunited and it feels so good.” Myrick laughed. “I love that song.” I pulled away when he caressed my face with the hands that had killed Emjay. “The night I saw you talking to Rochelle, you looked so good.”
“What did you do to Rochelle?”
“Don’t be mad at me, baby. We just went on a couple of dates, that’s it. She don’t hold a candle to you. It’s all good though. You don’t have to worry about her anymore. I cut her heart out.”
“Goddamn you, why Rochelle? She didn’t do anything to you.”
“She was only another piece on my board I played. She spoke very highly of you though, going on about how hardworking you are, and how good you are.” I grabbed my nail file off the nightstand as Myrick paced the floor, going on about the brutal way he killed Rochelle. “But let’s not go on about all that. Being locked up gave me a lot of time to think about what happened and I just want you to know that I forgive you, that I hold no grudges. I love you. You’re my girl.” I cringed to Myrick’s touch. “I want to forget everything that’s happened, and move on with a fresh start.”
“Fuck you!” I yelled, as I plunged the file in Myrick’s chest and ran out of the bedroom.
“Fucking bitch!” Myrick let off a shot as I ran. The bullet missed me by a hair. I gasped to find Emjay lying motionless on the floor in a pool of blood. I frantically pulled the front door open and ran out into the cold night, dirt and gravel wet under my feet as I ran through a thicket of brush and trees. “Shariece!” Myrick yelled. He wasn’t too far behind. “I’m going to kill you, you fucking bitch.” The full moon was the only light I had to illuminate my way. I was familiar with the area. Sedrick and I used to play tag and hide-and-seek in these woods when we were children. “So that’s how you want to play this? I confess my love for you and you stab me?” I made my way toward an old tool shed that wasn’t far from the cabin. It was cold, wet and reeked of rot. My heart was beating like a stampede of bulls in my chest as I searched the shed for something to protect myself with. I noticed a rusty screwdriver on one of the tables. I grabbed it and hid into a cold, dark corner, gripping the tool.
“You can come out, baby. I’m not mad. Let’s talk about this,” Myrick said as he kicked open the door of the shack. “There you are, beautiful. Why are you running away from me?”
“I ain’t running from you anymore. If you want me, then come and get me, you sick, psycho fuck.” Myrick tucked his gun in the waist of his jeans. As he lunged for me, I plunged the screwdriver into his stomach. I screamed as he grabbed me by the throat. His hold on me weakened as I shoved the screwdriver in deeper. “Die, motherfucker, die!” Myrick collapsed to the floor. He struggled to pull the screwdriver out, coughing up blood, but was too weak in his efforts. I ran out of the shed back toward the house.
I turned Emjay over on his back and felt for a pulse. “He’s alive.” I grabbed my cell phone and dialed 9-1-1. “Stay with me, baby. Stay with me,” I repeated.