Page 34 of Welcome to the Table
Iknew when Hollygrove was waiting for me in my apartment at nine o’clock that morning that something was wrong. I had just come from my 6:00 a.m. class and was still tired. It was the only class I had for the day, and I had planned to spend it in bed, eating snacks. I should have known that something was happening because my father had been blowing my phone up for the past two weeks, but I didn’t answer. Calliope and even Hellcat had texted, but I didn’t answer. My mind didn’t want to know what was going on. I was on my own and wanted to keep it that way.
I had been in New York for five years and still hadn’t made any friends. The friends I did have were all in New Orleans. People in New York were friendly, so I just minded the business that paid me, and that was school. Everything I did, I did it alone because my father always taught me not to trust anyone. Shopping and eating out were things that I did alone. I stayed in my apartment most days and watched TV or read a book if I wasn’t studying, and I was fine with that. I was an introvert anyway. I was used to being alone.
My father didn’t give me a chance to say goodbye to my friends. Straight after high school, I was sent to New York forschool and never looked back. I didn’t have a chance to. It was never my choice, but he told me that someone would always be watching me. I wasn’t stupid. I knew what my brothers and father did for a living, but I didn’t think it would ever touch me. I was living comfortably in my own world until I walked into his ass sitting on my bed.
“Don’t ask no questions, just pack up some shit that you gon’ need, and we will get the rest when we touch down at home,” was the only thing he stated when I walked into my room and closed the door. The Starbucks cup in my hand almost fell. My bookbag fell to the ground.
“How did you get to New York, and how did you get into my apartment?” I wasn’t scared that he was here. Seeing him meant I was in danger. He leaned his elbows back on my bed, licking his lips while looking me up and down. It was an unspoken crush that I had on Hollygrove since I was a teenager, but he didn’t know it. Maybe he did, but wouldn’t say anything because of Hellcat.
“You asking too many questions, pretty girl. Just grab yo’ shit and let’s go.” He grabbed my LV duffle that was on the side of my bed.
I always kept a bag packed in case something happened, but it had been years, and nothing had happened, so this was a surprise.
“Tell me what happened and let me decide if I want to leave with you. I am grown now and get to make my own decisions. I ignore the whispers that they say about my father, and I can protect myself at all times. I have been just fine,” I told him with my hand on my hip.
He just stared at me. I felt naked. Maybe it was just in my mind, but I think I saw lust in his eyes.
“You gon’ either get yo’ shit and walk out here like a lady, or I’ll take matters into my own hands, and you may not likeit. I wasn’t sent up here for play. I was sent to do a fucking job, and that’s to bring yo’ ass to New Orleans, so get yo’ shit, Jaci, or don’t take shit at all. It’s your choice,” he barked at me, but I didn’t move. He was not about to bully me out of the life I had built for myself.
“I ain’t packing shit because I’m not going nowhere. My daddy didn’t call me about this shit, so I ain’t leaving,” I lied to him, still standing my ground.
He sat up and smirked like he knew different. I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, trying to stop the tears from coming. He stood up and walked close to me, towering over my 5’5” height. Him being so close to me with that mean mug he always kept had my mind in shambles. I didn’t know what his next move would be. After a few seconds of us inspecting each other’s faces, he reached into his pocket and pressed a button, putting the phone on speaker. The phone rang once before my father’s booming baritone came through the speaker. Hollygrove didn’t say shit.
“Ladybug, I need you in the city now. Don’t give him a hard time. Just go with him.” My father tried to be nice, but I knew he didn’t have a nice bone in his body. He was only nice when it came to me.
“I don’t wanna leave, Daddy. I like my life here,” I whined and watched Hollygrove scrunch his eyebrows.
“It won’t be forever. Just for a little while. Can you give me that? I need to lay eyes on my only Ladybug.” he was trying his hardest to get to me, but I wasn’t feeling it.
“I’m not leaving. I know what’s going on. I hear the niggas and females talk about the Black Guerrilla Mafia. They know who I am, but I don’t say anything back, and I don’t talk to people. They fear you and the family if anything. I am practically invisible here. And what about my classes? I can’t just drop them.” I was pulling out all the stops to avoid a returnto the city. Them pushing me away and wanting me to come back after years is diabolical.
“You are never invisible, and they do know you. That’s why they are fucking talking. Your classes have been taken care of. I’m doing too much talking. This is not a fucking battle; it’s a fucking command. Hollygrove, you know what comes next,” and just like that, the phone disconnected.
My daddy never spoke to me that way, and I was crushed, but I would never let my face show it. I tried to back away from Hollygrove, but before my foot could land, I was lifted and thrown across his shoulder. I started wailing my arms and kicking my feet, but it didn’t seem to faze him. He hoisted me up more when I started to slide off his shoulder. He dipped to grab my phone off the bed and proceeded to walk to the door.
“Put me the fuck down. I don’t want to go back. I want to stay here. I don’t have shit to do with what’s going on in New Orleans. This is my life now.” I was beating on his back like a drum.
Before he opened the door, he barked, “Keep the fuck still and stop that noise before these motherfuckers think I’m kidnapping yo’ ass.” He gritted his teeth, but I didn’t give a fuck.
“You are kidnapping me! What the fuck you think this is?!” I screamed as he walked out the door.
“You fucking know me, so it ain’t. Be fucking quiet, and I’ll put you down.” I used that shit to my advantage.
As soon as he let me down, I had something for his ass. I got quiet and stilled my body. He bent down to let me down, and as soon as my feet touched the ground and his hands were not on me, I took off running. He must have forgotten that in high school, I was a track star. I ran through the field with no destination in mind. Just wanted to be away from him.
I heard footsteps behind me, and I knew he was gaining on me, and I was fucked. This nigga was friends with my brother.Why did I think I could outrun him? I ran toward the parking lot, and I saw a black truck with tinted windows. I knew that was the car he was in. He caught up with me, and I ran his ass in circles around the truck.
“Stop fucking playing and get in the car. The jet gon’ leave in another hour, and it’s gon’ take us forty-five minutes to get there.” He was breathless. He bent over, holding his knees, and I laughed because I wasn’t out of breath. He tried to sneak up on me, but I was too fast. I ran to the other side of the truck. I wasn’t paying attention, and the door opened. I ran into it full speed and fell back into his arms.
“You thought I wasn’t gon’ catch yo’ ass. Get in the fucking truck.” He lifted my body and threw me in the back seat.
The door had my entire body in pain. I lay across the back seat and didn’t say anything as the truck pulled off. By the time we got to the strip, I didn’t have any fight left in me and didn’t give any problems.
“Talk to me, Pumpkin. Tell me what’s wrong.” Wisdom snapped me out of my thoughts of Hollygrove.
I was still trying to process my feelings about being forced to come back home. I was angry and a little scared, but I knew I was safer at home, although I didn’t want to admit it. It was the suddenness that was unsettling to me. That and the fact that no one wanted to tell me the entire truth.
“Why did my daddy bring me here just for him to leave? I want my life in New York. I was a comfortable there, and he snatched that from me.” My tears dried, but my voice was still whiny.
