Getting Played (18 page)

I smile. It was a great story, and for some reason, it does make me feel a lot better about coming down here.

“You remember mom a lot differently than I do.”

“She was there to help each of us when we needed her. She still is. Remember that.”

“I know. I guess sometimes I forget,” I say.

“You're just like her. You're a fighter. Look at what you've been through with Darien and with the Pizza Place.”

“Nah, I see Mom more in you. You're so calm and smart about things. You always know exactly what to do, just like her.”

“I guess we have the best of her when we really need it.”

“Yeah, that's it.”

“You know what? Maybe we can talk Grandmom into putting a light switch at the top and connecting it to the bottom. That way the whole area would be illuminated when we need it to be.”

“That's a good idea, 'cause seriously, I hate coming down these stairs,” I say again. Jade laughs just as she opens the pantry door. Our grandmother is standing at the table emptying a grocery bag. We greet her, then help put the groceries away. Then we all sit down and eat sandwiches and talk.

Jade suggests putting a light in the back stairs, and Grandmom thinks it's a great idea. Then we talk about school. Thankfully, Jade does most of the talking. I don't feel like it. But I should have known my grandmother wasn't gonna let me be quiet for long. “And what are you up to at school, Kenisha?”

“I'm doing okay, hanging in there. Penn isn't all that bad. And actually, one of my teachers was telling me about applying to hopefully be a congressional page next semester.”

“Wow, that's wonderful,” my grandmother says.

“Hey, congrats, I was a page right before my senior year, too. We can make it a family tradition.”

“I am so proud of you girls I could burst with joy. Just keep doing the right things and everything will be okay,” our grandmother says. Jade and I look at each other. We know exactly what she means. “So how's it going upstairs?” she asks as we clean up the kitchen.

“It's going pretty good,” I say. Jade agrees.

“Was anything broken?” she asks.

“Nothing that really matters,” Jade adds.

“Do you need any help?”

“No, we're okay. We got it.”

“Well, I'm going to head on over to the hospital and then…”

“The hospital?” I repeat nervously. “Why, what's wrong?”

“With me, nothing. Are you okay?”

“Why are you going to the hospital?”

“You know I visit friends in the hospital and the nursing home on Saturdays before I go to bingo.”

“Oh, that's right. I forgot,” I say.

So after lunch and cleaning up the kitchen, my grandmother goes to visit her friends, and Jade and I go back to work upstairs. A few hours later, we finish cleaning and putting our rooms back to normal. We rearranged the furniture and both rooms looked great. Basically, I helped Jade with hers and she helped me with mine. After a while they were as good as new. Actually, better than new.

Later Jade is exchanging clothes out to go back to the
dorm. I sit on her bed while she packs. “So, you don't have to tell me this if you don't want to, but is there any possibility that you and Tyrece could be hooking up again?” I ask.

Jade turns and looks at me, only half smiling. “Well, check you out, getting all up in my business.”

I smile, knowing she is joking. “Nah, it's not that. I was just kinda looking forward to being a bridesmaid.”

“I don't know if I'm gonna be able to help you with that.”

“That's okay, I was just asking.”

“So what are you doing the rest of the day?” she asks.

“Nothing. I'll probably call Jalisa and Diamond and see if they want to hang.”

“Did you need a ride to your dad's house?”

“Nah, things are too weird there.”

“What do you mean?” she asks.

“Oh, my God, I have to show you this.” I run into my bedroom and grab my cell phone. I start the video playback application as Jade sits down on the bed. We watch, laughing the whole time. When it is over, we watch it again, laughing the whole time.

“So what did your dad do?” Jade asks.

“He scared that guy to death. He ran out of there quick. But so far he's not doing anything about Courtney. She keeps begging for forgiveness and saying it wasn't her fault, but he's just ignoring her. I don't get it.”

“Sure you do. Now he can do anything he wants to do and she can't say or do a damn thing about it. Think of it as a lifetime get-out-of-jail-free card.”

“Oh, man, you're right, that's it. He's never gonna be home from now on.” I close my phone and turn it off.

“You're still not using your phone. Why? Have you gotten any crank calls the last few days?” Jade asks.

“I don't know. My phone is usually off.”

“Look and see.”

I turn it on again. As soon as I do, the white message light begins blinking. I open the message application and review the recent ones. “I have four missed calls and a text message from Diamond.”

“Who are the missed calls from?”

I press a couple of buttons. “They're all from Diamond, Jalisa, Ursula and my dad.”

“Nothing from anyone else?” she asks.

“No, and nothing from the private caller,” I say.

“Good, sounds like maybe they gave up,” Jade says.

“Yeah, I hope so.”

“The other day, you obviously had something to tell me when you came to me. I wasn't hearing anything before. I am now. What's going on? What did you need the money for, school?”

“No, for hospital bills.”

“What hospital bills?”

“Grandmom has all these hospital bills. What's up with that?”

“What hospital bills?” Jade repeats, frowning more.

Seeing her expression, I can tell she has no idea what I'm talking about. “They're bills from the Northern Virginia Health Institute. They're, like, for thousands of dollars. Is there something wrong? When was she in the hospital?”

“I've never known her to be in the hospital or even sick. Where'd you see these bills?”

“I saw them in the big envelope on the kitchen table. They were originally sent to Mom in Virginia and now they're here.”

“Did you ask her about them?”

“Yeah, she just blew me off. I tried calling the customer service number, but it was a recording.” I pull out my cell phone, find the number, then hit redial, then hit the speaker button so she can hear the other end ringing. A few seconds later, the machine comes on again. It lists several options. Jade presses the zero button for more information. An operator comes on.

“Hi,” Jade says. “Could you tell me what your hospital specializes in?”

“Yes, cardiovascular medicine.”

“Thank you,” Jade says, then presses the end call button.

“Um, Courtney said that mom left some insurance policies. Is that true?”

“Yes.”

“Who gets them?”

“We do. You, me and Grandmom.”

“How? When do we get it?”

“It's for college.”

“So you're already using yours?”

“No. I have a full scholarship.”

“So, can we maybe take some of your money and my money and pay the hospital bills off?”

“I don't know, maybe, but first we need to find out what's
really going on with this hospital thing. Let me see what else I can find out,” she says. I nod. “Okay, I'm ready to go. You sure you don't want a ride to your dad's house or to Virginia to hang with your friends?”

“Nah, I have a ton of homework to do and a lot of reading.”

She grabs her bag, laptop and purse. “You gonna be okay here by yourself until Grandmom gets back tonight?” she asks.

“Yeah, no biggie,” I say, more calmly than I really feel.

“Okay,” she says, then heads downstairs. When she gets to the foyer, she turns. I am on the last step. It always makes a loud squeaking sound when someone steps exactly in the middle. I bounce a couple of times, making the squeak louder and more annoying.

“You know you're only making that worse by doing that,” she says. I start chuckling and bounce some more. She shakes her head. “You are such a brat sometimes.”

“Yeah, I know and you love it.”

“Yeah, whatever,” she says, but we both know it's true. We drive each other crazy, but we are still sisters and love it. “Now, call me if you want or need anything,” she says.

“Does that include your Manolo Blahniks, too?” I joke.

“Hell, no,” she says smiling. “I'll lock myself out. See you later.”

“'Kay, see ya.” I head to the kitchen as I hear her double lock the front door. I grab some orange juice, some homemade chocolate chip cookies and the Style section of the newspaper and sit down. I drink my juice and eat my cookies
while I flip through the paper. There is nothing much in it except how somebody got arrested for something and was getting off easy. I think about Darien. I can't believe he was out on bail after everything he did.

I don't feel like reading this anymore. I fold the paper and rinse out my glass. I grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator, then toss my napkin at the trash can. I usually hit it, but this time I miss. It fell behind the trash can against the back door. I move the can and drop it in.

I look at the pantry door. It would be so easy just to run up the back stairs since the stairs and closet door are right next to my bedroom, but I seriously don't want to go through all that. I take the front stairs, squeak and all.

I don't feel like television or music, so I just sit there in the quiet. I think about filling out my application to be a congressional page, but I'm not in the mood, so I just look it over. I have to write an essay about the most significant change in my life. I nearly laugh out loud. I have about twenty since last summer began. I am not in the mood for that, either. I grab my recipe book and flip through. That's when I hear the first bang. I know exactly what it is. The trash can just fell over.
Shit.
Somebody just opened the back door.

Three's Company

Okay.
My heart is pounding like a jackhammer. I'm shaking all over and I can't stop myself. Now my breathing is getting crazy. I haven't needed my inhaler in a long time. I'm not sure I even know where it is. I stop and listen. I don't hear anything more from downstairs, but I still know somebody is here in the house. I quickly grab my purse and dump it on the bed. My inhaler falls out last. I take a deep breath and almost instantly my lungs clear.

I tiptoe over to my bedroom door and push it to almost closed. I immediately see the trophy. I grab it and hold it to swing, and then it hits me. If they want it, they can have it. I tiptoe back over and sit it down on the floor between my dresser and my desk. They have to see it there. Then I go back to the bedroom door and peek out. I still don't
hear anything. Now I am thinking maybe this is all just my imagination. That's when I hear it, the squeak.

I back away from the door and look around. My phone is on the bed where I dumped everything. I grab it and look around again, hearing a second squeak. I know there has to be at least two people. I can't fight two. I need to get out of here. I open my bedroom door more, then ease around to the closet door. Now I hear talking, or more like arguing. They are coming up to the second floor. I open the closet door and push the shelves aside. They roll easily like they always do. But I swear I never remembered them making a noise before.

I duck inside quickly, then close the door and push the shelves back in place. I know not a lot of people outside of the family know about our back stairs, and those who do probably have no idea how to make the shelves slide. So I feel safe enough for right now. But I hear real talking now. One guy is asking someone else about my bedroom. “It's on the third floor, come on.”

“Shut up, man, be quiet.”

“Man, ain't nobody here. Your girl's always in Virginia on Saturdays and I saw the old lady and her fine-ass sister leave.”

I start down a couple of steps, then almost trip. I catch myself, stop and sit down. I do not want to fall. I press the button on my phone to call for help. A small area in the darkness instantly illuminates. I forgot all about that part. I dial 911 and tell the operator in a whisper what is going on. I also tell her about Detectives Clark and Wilson. A few seconds later, I hear Detective Clark. The operator was
somehow able to connect me to him. “Kenisha, we're on the way to the house. Where are you?”

“I'm hiding upstairs,” I whisper.

“Okay, can you get out of the house without being seen?”

“I don't know, maybe.”

“Can you tell how many there are inside?”

“At least two, I think, but maybe…”

The closet door upstairs opens. I stop talking and look up, thinking maybe they heard me. Then I hear them talking again. “No, not that door, this one here,” another deep voice says. The closet door closes.

“Kenisha. Kenisha, are you there?”

“Yeah,” I whisper again.

“Okay, try to get out of the house.”

“I don't have my keys and the front door has a deadbolt lock on it.”

“How did they get in? Do you know?”

“I think by the back door.”

“Okay, can you get down the stairs to the back door without them seeing you?”

I look around in complete darkness except for the phone's light. I keep pressing the button to keep it lit. “Yeah, maybe. I think I can.”

“Good, go now. Be careful. When you get outside I want you to go to a neighbor's house and don't move, understand? We'll find you.”

“Okay,” I say, hearing my voice trembling.

“Now wait, don't hang up. I'll be right here with you the whole time. We're on our way. Detective Wilson and
I are going to wait at the back door for them to come out. We'll pick them up then.”

“Okay,” I say again, my voice trembling even more now. I take a deep breath and think about what Jade told me about our mom helping her climb down the stairs. I stand up slowly, grab the rail really tight like I'm holding my mom's hand and just start walking in the darkness. Even before I know it, I am standing in the pantry. I think about turning the lights on, but decide not to just in case there is someone on the lookout in the kitchen.

I listen at the door and don't hear anything. Then I open it slowly and peek out. There is trash all over the kitchen floor where the trash can had been knocked over. I look at the back door. It's pushed but not completely closed. I open the panty door all the way and stand in the kitchen. I hear the squeak on the front stairs again. There is somebody down here still. I tiptoe to the back door, open it, and, just as I am closing it, I hear another voice. “Come on, come on, hurry up, ya'll taking too long,” the girl's voice says. I stop.
Ursula?

I don't know how long I stand there trying to figure out the voice. I'm not really sure. Then it hits me that I have to run. I look around. Nobody is outside. I run to Terrence's house. I know his grandmother is home this time of day. I climb over the fence and run to their back door. I knock, then I bang. Terrence opens the door. He looks at me like I am crazy. “Girl, what the hell are you doing here banging on the door like that?”

“I need help,” I say, breathlessly. He looks at me hard. I
hate seeing this look. I know he doesn't like me anymore. “Look, whatever. I just need to be here until it's over.”

“Until what's over?” he asks.

“Terrence, there are some police cars out front next door,” his grandmother says, coming into the kitchen. She sees me and I guess sees my panicked expression. “Get her inside here now,” she says. Terrence grabs my arm and pulls me inside.

I am still shaking when his grandmother comes over to me. “Good Lord, child, what's going on? You're shaking like a leaf.”

Terrence goes to open the back door and I grab and push him aside. “No, don't go out there,” I yell.

He looks at me, then down at the phone in my hand. “Who's on the phone?”

I stand with my back against their back door blocking him from leaving. Then I hear my name being called over and over again. I put the phone to my ear. “Hello,” I say.

“Are you safe?” some woman asks.

“Yeah, I'm next door.”

“Good, stay there.”

I nod. “Mrs. Harrison, can I stay here with you for a few minutes?” I ask.

“Good Lord, of course.”

“What's going on?” Terrence asks.

“There's someone in the house.”

“Where are your grandmother and sister?” Mrs. Harrison asks.

“My grandmom is out and Jade just went back to school. I was in the house by myself when I heard them.”

“They didn't see you leaving?” I shake my head, no.

There is a loud commotion outside. I jump. Terrence pulls me away from the door. “Stay here,” he says, then opens the back door. He steps outside. Mrs. Harrison follows. I want to, but I can't move. I just stay there in their kitchen. I hear my name again. “Yeah, hello,” I say.

“Kenisha, where are you?”

“Next door at Mrs. Harrison's house,” I say.

“It's over. We got them coming out of the house.”

“Okay, thank you,” I say, then hang up. I sit down at the kitchen table and just stare. I don't even want to know who it was. I don't care. I know whoever it was found the trophy and that's what they wanted. So good. They got it back, and now Jade and I don't have to think about it anymore.

Terrence comes back in after a while. “You okay?” he asks, sitting down across from me.

“Yeah,” I say. I look up at him. He is half-smirking, shaking his head. “What?” I say.

“Girl, you got so much drama around you.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Did they get them for real?”

“Yeah, the cops caught both of them coming out of the house.”

“Both?” I question, wondering about the female voice I heard before I closed the back door.

“Yeah, it was your boy Darien and some other dude. They had that trophy you used before to beat him down with them.” Then Terrence starts laughing. “That's some messed up stuff right there. Those trophies keep getting his stupid ass in trouble.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I didn't even realize I still had it until
I was cleaning up earlier. I gotta call my grandmother and Jade.”

“Yeah, and I think the police want to talk to you, too. I'm going back outside.”

I call Jade and my grandmother and tell them what happened. After I assure them I am fine and tell them where I am, they tell me they are already on the way. I end the call, and a few minutes later, Diamond calls. “Hey, let me call you right back. We need to talk.”

“No, but wait,” Diamond says. “I gotta tell you this real fast, then we can talk about it later. Barron came over last night. He was all upset. He told me that it was Troy and some of the other football players who were doing the break-ins around in your neighborhood.”

“What?” I say.

“But it wasn't them that did the one at the Pizza Place. Whoever it was scared the hell out of Troy and his boys, 'cause they're not doing it anymore.”

“Did he believe them?”

“Yeah.”

I hear talking outside. “Let me call you right back.” As soon as I end the call, Detective Clark walks in with my grandmother and Terrence's grandmother. I jump up and hug my grandmother. It is so good to see her.

“Kenisha, are you okay?” Detective Clark asks. I nod. “I need to ask you some questions about what happened this afternoon.” I nod again. Just then, Jade comes in with Detective Wilson. We look at each other and I start crying. She grabs me and holds tight. After a while, Detective Clark
suggests he can talk to me later. But I don't want that. I want to get this day over with.

“Are you sure you're up for this?”

“Yes,” I say strongly.

“Okay, take me through it. What happened?”

I tell him about the trash can and how I accidently left it in front of the back door and how I heard it fall when I was in my room. Then I tell him about the creaking step and sneaking out the back way. I debate about telling him I heard a female voice. In the end I decide to tell. What the hell, whoever she was, she was in my house and didn't belong there.

“Did you recognize any of the voices?”

“I didn't hear anybody clear enough to be one hundred percent sure.”

“Okay, as I said before, we did arrest two men coming out of your house, Mrs. King. They were carrying a trophy. Do you know where it came from?”

She looks puzzled. “A trophy?”

“That was me,” I say quickly. “A few weeks ago Darien Moore and I got into it in his room. He told me his sister was missing. I went to help, but he tried to make me stay. I grabbed one of his trophies and hit him with it. Then I grabbed another one and broke his arm. After that I grabbed another one. When I saw he was incapacitated, I still held on to the trophy and ran.”

“I see. So, it's his property. You took it from his house.”

“Uh-huh, I didn't know back then that I broke his arm and I was scared he might still come after me again. So, I
took it for protection. I never gave it back. I forgot all about it. I only found it when I was straightening up my bedroom after the first time they broke in.”

“That was apparently what they were looking for.”

“A stupid trophy, that's silly,” Jade says, looking directly at me. “Why break into someone's house just to get a trophy? It can't be of that much value.”

“Maybe it's sentimental value,” I say. “I shouldn't have taken it in the beginning.”

“You were defending yourself, it's understandable. So you hit him with his own trophy and broke his arm.” I nod. The detectives glance at each other and halfway smile. “Okay, we're gonna wrap this up and let you all get back to what you were doing. If we have any more questions we'll contact you later. Thank you for being so patient. And, Kenisha, you did a really brave thing today.”

I nod. I don't really care anymore. They have the trophy and he has his money. It's over for me. If the police open the trophy and find the money, it's on him. Thank God.