Page 12 of Free to Love You
A tear cascaded down my cheek. I smacked it away. With a shaky voice, I said,“They left me.”
There was shuffling on the other end of the line.“What da fuck you jus’ say?”
At The Hospital Across Town. . .
I had just finished my case notes for the Lawrence case. The young woman was a domestic violence victim. Nigga beat her so bad that he broke three ribs, her jaw, and her arm. What was crazy was that she came in here on some she fell shit. Where, to hell?
I went out with the surgeon this time because the patient had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia that caused me to pivot my plane. Color me surprised when I realized I knew her dude. Way back in the day, he was a pill and coke head who was a frequent patron of mine.
Her mother and sister were there also. Based on how they looked at this nigga, they knew what it was. I mustered up every ounce of my professionalism to deploy in front of Dr. Morris.
After he left, though, I shed that shit to be the nigga my uncle raised me to be. I told the young fuck boy that he had one more time to touch her and I was gonna send the devil himself to escort him to the finished basement of hell. It was a nice, fully furnished basement apartment. I wanted fuck boy to be comfortable in his hell home. It even hadTo Hell By Mesteaming services.
I prayed sweetheart understood that dude would kill her one day if she didn’t get out. Now I had to write notes on what happened. I made sure that I expressed my suspicion of domestic violence as the surgeon did as well.
“Dr. Carson, my boy. How are you doing?” I smiled at the sound of Dr. O’Brian’s voice. It was a rarity that I saw him in the emergency department.
I stood to dap him. “What’s up with you, Dr. O’Brian? I’m surprised to see you here. Your private practice keeps you hella busy.”
He chuckled. “That it does. I was requested for a procedure upstairs. I wanted to stop and check you out. I also had an opportunity for you.” Oh, I was all ears for new opportunities. “My anesthesiologist moved to Maryland, so I’m looking for a new one, full-time.”
My ears perked at full-time. I knew his previous anesthesiologist. We had conversations about his work there and he loved it. The hours were better because they were scheduled surgeries versus emergency type cases. He also let me know that he made 30 percent more than he did at the hospital. That was almost $120,000 added to my salary.
“Oh, we can definitely talk. I’d love to set up an appointment with you. Just call me and let me know when and I’ll be there,” I let him know.
We spoke for a few more minutes before he left. I had one more case to write notes on. My phone vibrated on my desk.“What’s up, Mama?”
“Yeah, ya baby mama got me and mine fuck up! When I see ha it’s on damn sight!”My mama was so loud that I pulled the phone from my ear.
My mama had never gone off like this about Hope. She had no reason to.“Mama, what the hell you talkin’ about? What happened?”
“See, I knew in my spirit somethin’ wasn’t right when she kept insisting Lovina go out wit’ her. I know you and her cool, but not to da level where she wanna go out wit’ the girl you really wanna be wit’.”
Her statement caught me off guard. I never told anyone that I wanted to be with Lovina. Did I want to? Yes. I knew I had to move carefully with her. She had literally been single all her life.“Mama, leave all that extra stuff out. What happened?”
“Hope done convinced that baby to go to some lounge wit’ her. I’on know what happened, but Lovina jus’ call me cryin’ talkin’ ’bout them bitches left her at the lounge.”Anger radiated through the phone.
I had to play her words back because first, what did she mean Hope asked Lovina to go out with her? Second, she actually went? My jaw clicked at the thought of Lovina in an unfamiliar place alone.“Mama, you got her location?”
In my mind I already knew more than likely where she went. She frequented the same damn shit all the time. Hope loved to party which was a part of the reason we didn’t work. She had a flirtatious bone and that didn’t work with my crazy bone. I wasan up and coming doctor at the time. I already had a lot going against me. She was a person who tended to not have a concept of time and place. She wasn’t a good companion, but she was an excellent mother.
I was already out of my office when my mother sent me the location. Just like I thought, she was atEssence Place.It was a very nice lounge aesthetically, but the shit was filled with drug dealers, scammers, and gang ass niggas. Those were the kind of niggas Hope and her friends gravitated to. I was one of those kinds of niggas when she met me.
When I got into my truck, I told it to call Beyon. I would need moral support when I stepped to Hope.“Ayo! What’s up, bubba?”
“I need you to meet me at Essence Place right fuckin’ now,”I demanded. I knew that was all I had to say. No questions would be asked.
I broke every speed limit to get to my baby . . . I mean Lovina. I was not about to play about her whether she just remained a friend or my woman. That was how it would be, and I was unapologetic.
I pulled my shit up at the front door. When I jumped out, security had their hands on their pews until they realized who I was. I wasn’t worried because I kept my pew on me too. I frequented the gun range. I locked it in my desk at work because crazy people didn’t care where they jumped fool at. “Damn, boy! We was ’bout ta light yo ass up in a second. I ain’t seen you in a minute.”
His eyes roamed my attire because I was still in my hospital scrubs. “My bad, lil homie. I need to get in there. My girl is in there and it’s an emergency.”
One of the dudes pointed toward the door. “Oh, ya gal ain’t in there no mo. She left already.”
That was confirmation that Hope’s flaw ass really left Lovina in there alone. “Hope is not my gal. She ain’t been my gal for years.”
Just as he told me that I could go in, Beyon pulled up. He jumped out of the car none the wiser about what was going on, but he was ready. That was what real family and niggas did.
