The Johnson Sisters (7 page)

“I'm not going. I don't feel like telling nobody else what happened, especially a damn doctor.”

“Fool, what if you have a concussion?”

“My head is hard. I'll be all right,” she said, grinning for the first time since she got there.

“I know that, but even hard heads can get damaged. The knot on your temple is enough for me to worry about the injuries you could have,” I said.

“All I need is some ice and some sleep.”

“You can't go to sleep. You have to stay up for at least a few hours to make sure you don't slip into a coma or something,” I said.

“What are you, Dr. Serena?”

“Yes. I got my PhD from the school of common damn sense,” I said jokingly.

“Funny.”

“Sis, I think you really need to get checked out seriously,” I said.

“Serena, I don't feel like dealing with any doctors, nurses, or cops for that matter. Besides, I've been drinking and smoking.”

“And? What does that mean? You also been battered,” I said.

“Just leave it alone. I'm not going and that's that.”

“You have to do one or the other. Either go to the doctor or let me call Big Ray. You choose.”

“You know what? I'm leaving,” she said, standing to her feet but stumbling a bit with dizziness.

“You see? You can't even stand up without stumbling.”

“I'll be all right,” she said, walking to the door.

“And where are you going?” I asked.

“Home.”

“You know what? Something is wrong with your head if you making all these crazy decisions. You are not going home. What if that fool is still there? Do you expect me to let you go back to that?”

“He won't be there,” Shauna said confidently.

“And how do you know that?” I asked.

She said nothing. She gawked at me.

“Exactly. Look, you are staying here tonight. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.” I held my hand out, saying, “Give me your keys.”

“I'm not going anywhere.”

“I know, but I'm making sure, so hand them over,” I said, wiggling my fingers in the “come here” fashion.

Shauna put the keys in my hand even though she didn't want to give them up. I knew her. If I didn't take those keys away from her, when I woke up in the morning, Shauna would be gone.

“You can rest in the guest room next to Nevaeh's room. But don't go to sleep.”

“Okay,” she said dejectedly.

“And, Shauna, if you decide to be hardheaded and leave here without me knowing, I'm going to call Big Ray to handle things with Gerald and Pookie in tow.”

Shauna didn't say anything. She walked out of the living room, heading for the bedroom. I knew I would be up for a while, because there was no way I was going to be able to sleep knowing there was a possibility my sister wouldn't wake up.

 

Don't you know that fool thought I was playing a joke on him? He thought I was talking to a dial tone and hadn't called the police on him because my love for him wouldn't do that to him. Well, that punk realized I did call when he saw the cops pull up. He looked at me in disbelief.

“Maybe this will convince you I mean what I say. I don't want to be with you, Tobias.”

“I still don't believe you. We are having a rift right now, but eventually it will get solved.”

The cops walked up to my open door waiting on them. “Ma'am, did you call about an intruder?” the tall, well-built officer asked as he glanced at Tobias, who was acting like he lived there.

As striking as this cop was, I almost forgot Tobias was there. This cop was fine as hell.

“Ma'am,” the handsome cop called out, snapping me back to why he was here in the first place.

“Yes, I'm sorry,” I apologized, smiling at him like a shy schoolgirl. But there was nothing girly about me. I was all woman, and I was getting immediately turned on by the magnificence of the chocolate brother.

“Officer . . .” I paused, looking at him questionably as I searched for his name on his uniform.

“I'm Officer Winn. And this is my partner, Officer Taylor,” he said, pointing to the dainty brunette woman standing behind him.

She was eying me in a way that made me want to check her. She was giving me a look like I shouldn't be ogling Officer Winn at all. Maybe she was jealous because she was trying to get it or had already gotten it, and that was the reason why she was giving me the stank eye.

“Ma'am,” Officer Winn called out again, and when I made eye contact, his stern face changed into one of ease.

“Yes, Officer,” I said sweetly.

“Why are we here again?” he asked.

“This man will not leave my house,” I said, changing my tone to one of urgency.

“Did he touch you?” Officer Winn asked.

Instantly I wished Officer Winn would touch me. He could have his way with me any kind of position he wanted, because this man was so fine.

“Did he touch you?” Officer Winn asked again, snapping me back from daydreaming about his attractive behind.

“No, he wouldn't be dumb enough to do that. He just will not leave my house,” I said, looking back at a pathetic Tobias.

“Is this true?” Officer Winn asked Tobias.

“Officer, this is a misunderstanding. My girlfriend is mad with me right now. I don't know why she called you all.”

“First of all, I'm not your girlfriend. Second, I called because I want you out my house,” I said, pointing to my door. My robe loosened a bit, almost causing one of my breasts to come tumbling free.

Officer Taylor frowned, but Officer Winn smirked, giving me the impression he didn't mind as his eyes looked as though he wished he got a free look. His partner eyed him and shifted uncomfortably.

Pulling my robe closed, I said, “Get out!”

“I live here too,” Tobias said, surprising me with this bit of information.

“Is this true, ma'am? Does he live here?” Officer Taylor interjected.

“No!” I belted.

“Please calm down,” the female officer warned.

“This is my house and my house only. I'm the only one who stays here,” I asserted, ignoring this woman telling me to calm down. Just because she was behind that badge and police uniform didn't mean I had to respect her.

“Stop lying, Phoenix. My clothes are upstairs in your closet. My shaving kit is in your bathroom.”

“No, it's not,” I said.

“Ma'am, if he lives here—” the female officer attempted to say, but I cut her off in annoyance.

“But he doesn't! I pay this mortgage. I pay all the utilities.”

“Well, that's a lie too, babe,” he said softly, like this wasn't an issue. “I've been paying your mortgage, electric, and water. Officer, if you would allow me to show you, I have the receipts and my account information showing I paid it,” Tobias said, going over to my console table and pulling out his checkbook and receipts.

When did he put his things there?
And if he put that there, he probably was right about having some clothes and his shaving kit upstairs. Had this man slowly moved his things in my place without me even knowing?

“See? I made sure the clerk wrote down I paid and my information,” he said, walking back over to the officers and pointing at the slips of paper.

“Ma'am, this does show he's been paying the bills at this address. If he didn't live here, why would he be paying your mortgage?” Officer Taylor asked, leering at me like she was happy I was caught in a lie.

I wanted to put my hands on this woman. She was getting a kick out of making me look stupid. The snide smirk on her face let me know that.

“He helped me out a few times. So what? That doesn't mean he lives here,” I disputed.

“I can take you upstairs to show you my clothes and other items. I even bought the food for her dinner party she had tonight,” he said, bringing out yet another receipt.

I wanted so bad to snatch all of those pieces of paper out of his hand and stuff them all in his damn mouth so he could choke on it. How dare he make me out to look like a liar? If I would've known he kept track of him helping me out, I wouldn't have had anything to do with this punk. To me, this was looking like a setup that I allowed to happen because I was too busy enjoying the fruits of his labor. But the cops couldn't believe this, could they?

“Ma'am, I'm sorry to tell you we can't make this man leave. It appears that he does reside here, and by law, regardless if his name is on your lease or not, he has tenant rights. All the evidence is here,” Officer Taylor said, taking over this little interrogation.

“You got to be kidding me,” I said, putting my hands on my hips in frustration. I peered at Officer Winn, who stood back watching as his partner did all the work. As good-looking as he was, he was there to do his job.

I asked him, cutting off his partner, “Is this true?”

Officer Winn nodded, saying, “If you want this man to leave, Ms. Johnson, you have to give him at least a thirty-day notice to leave your residence. If he doesn't leave within that time frame, then you will have to file an eviction notice with the court,” Officer Winn explained.

“Eviction notice, on my own damn house?” I questioned.

“Yes, ma'am,” he said.

“Even if he hit me?” I tried to lie.

“You said he never put his hands on you. Your exact words were . . .” Officer Taylor said, looking down at her notepad. She proceeded to read, “‘He wouldn't be dumb enough to do that.'” She looked up at me, happy at my humiliation right now.

I was mad at myself at this point. Why did I say that? I could have said he hit me and he would be gone and I would be back in bed getting some sleep. As usual, my mouth worked faster than my brain. Now Tobias was the one who had rights over property that was mine. I was pissed.

“If there's another problem, please feel free to call us,” Officer Taylor said to Tobias like she was on his side. I didn't bother to say anything else. I did get one last glance at Officer Winn as he proceeded to leave my stoop.

“Thank you, Officers,” Tobias said in his chipper voice.

This just made me cringe with resentment.

“You all have a good night,” Officer Taylor said, and I slammed the door in her face.

“Phoenix, you can get arrested,” Tobias said.

“Why, for closing my own door? She lucky I didn't do more,” I bellowed. “I can't believe you lied like that,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Honey, I didn't lie. Everything I said was the truth.”

“I'm going to get you out of here if it's the last thing I do,” I said, stomping up my stairs and slamming my bedroom door closed, locking it.

 

Serena ended up staying up with me until she thought it was okay for me to fall asleep. I slept in the third bedroom they had. When I woke up, the first person I thought about was Cal and what he did to me. My second thought was how my head was killing me. I had a hangover without the drunkenness. I knew this pain came from Cal slamming my head into the floor. For a minute, I didn't want to move for fear the pain would increase. I lay there looking up at the speckled ceiling, wishing things were different. I never thought I would have anything like this happen to me.

I managed to sit up, making sure to move slowly, and was happy the pain didn't escalate. I was more sore than I thought. I threw my feet over the side of the bed and sat there for a bit. I still had on the T-shirt and panties I ran over here in. I looked at the side table next to the bed to see my sister put a change of clothes there for me to put on. I picked it up to see she put a pair of gray jogging pants and fitted white V-neck tee with a pair of socks and underwear. I ran my hand through my tangled hair, wincing a bit, and when I brought my hands back down, I saw clumps of my hair came out in my hand. Tears threatened to escape as I recapped the night and wondered how in the hell this had happened.

Here I was thinking I had to worry about my sister calling our cousins, and I never considered what Tyree would do once he found out. I knew I should have kept what happened to me to myself. Cal beating me was the least of my worries. Now that Tyree knew too, it was enough to stress me the hell out.

All because of the simple act of Tyree going to the restroom in the middle of the night, and that's when he realized Serena wasn't in the bed with him. He thought she was with Nevaeh but quickly found out she was with me, since the spare bedroom was right beside my niece's room. When Tyree saw me, he knew something was up. As much as I didn't want to tell him, I had to. Seeing him standing before me caused me to burst into tears again. Needless to say, Tyree was heated by what happened, and he immediately began calling his boys, letting them know to serve Cal with a pretty ass-whooping if they saw him.

I could stop Serena, but Tyree was another story. He was the brother I never had, and he acted the role of one, too. Tyree let me know way back he didn't like Cal. He only dealt with him because he loved me, so for this to happen, he was ready to stomp a hole in him.

Really Cal was hated by many men in the street. He always thought he was big and bad all the damn time, running his mouth like he couldn't be beat. All mouth and little action was what he was. “I'm from Jersey, yo,” he would say all the time, like that was going to make somebody back down. I had family in Jersey, but none of them bragged like he did. I guess since Virginia was more down south than upstate, he thought everybody from here was supposed to be punks. Boy was he ever wrong.

He learned one lesson when his ass got stabbed in his back on the basketball court four months ago for running that mouth. It was through the grace of God that the blade missed his spinal cord and he lived. That alone should have been enough to clue him in on keeping his mouth shut, but if anything it made him cockier because he survived the stabbing. He walked with his chest stuck out more than ever now, with not one damn lesson learned. All he got out of it was he had street scars, and the fact that he survived proved his toughness. This punk really began to think his ass was invincible.

Like a dummy, I still stayed with him. Look where that got me. I could have lost my life at the hands of this fool. He couldn't beat a dude, so he thought it was fitting to make himself feel better by beating me. I was the only one he had in his corner. A lot of his own family didn't have his back, so now he was going to stand alone, and I knew this was the time he would run to them. The only one who seemed to have his back was his mother. She was a good woman. Out of this entire situation, she would be the one person I would miss.

The shower I took made me feel a hundred times better. The hot water helped ease my aching bruises, and I washed my hair, pulling it back in a ponytail. With clean clothes on and feeling refreshed, I felt good.

The aroma of sausage swarmed the air, and I knew Serena wasn't in the kitchen. Tyree was. He was the one who did the cooking most of the time between the two. I also smelled coffee, and for once I craved to have a cup with lots of sugar and cream.

When I got downstairs, to my dismay, my sister Phoenix was sitting at the island in the kitchen. I heard her say, “Cal needs to start counting his nine lives, because Big Ray and them getting ready to take what's left away from him. I promise you that.”

She was always so damn loud and dramatic. And they said I was the crazy sister.

Serena was sitting beside Phoenix. Both were drinking the coffee I smelled earlier. I turned to see, like expected, Tyree at the stove preparing breakfast.

“Why did you call her?” I asked Serena as I walked into the kitchen painted a sunny yellow. It wasn't overpowering at all. It made you feel like happiness should always be within this space; but I wasn't feeling any type of happiness right now, not after seeing Phoenix here. If anything I was feeling dread at the days ahead, knowing I would be the brunt of conversation between my sisters and whatever other family they decided should be brought into my troubles.

“Phoenix called me this morning because we were supposed to go walking so I can start losing this baby weight,” Serena said, grabbing her little pouch from having Nevaeh.

“And you couldn't wait to tell her what happened to me,” I said, crossing my arms in frustration.

“She is our sister, Shauna. Don't you think she should know?” Serena asked.

“If I wanted her to know, I would have run to her house. I thought I could trust you, Serena,” I said, walking around the island to retrieve a mug from the cabinet.

“Shauna, you can be mad all you want. Serena's right. I should know about this,” Phoenix chimed in.

“Why? What business is this of yours?”

“We're sisters. How many times do we have to say this to you? Cal stepped way over the line when he thought it was okay to disrespect you like this. And with him disrespecting you, he has disrespected us. That's why I called Pookie and Gerald over.”

“You did what?” I blurted in the middle of pouring the hot elixir into my mug. I halted my coffee-pouring midair, trying really hard not to drop the pot onto the granite countertop.

“You heard me,” Phoenix said.

I looked at Serena, who stretched her eyes and picked up her own cup to take a sip. The mug was so big it looked like it was covering her entire face. Maybe she was trying to hide from me.

With Phoenix at the reins, I knew this situation was going to get worse, which was why I knew Serena told her instead of any of our other sisters. To be as pretty as she was, Phoenix was
boughetto
—bougie and ghetto. Yesterday she was high-class snooty; now she was ready to scream whooty-who. Just call my sister Phoenix the diva of the family. She was the type to start trouble and then finish it, even if it meant somebody else was fighting her battles. Don't get me wrong; Phoenix fought. She had to, as many times as she slept with somebody's husband.

My sister let her beauty work for the good of her pockets. Where she got that behavior from, I don't know. Her attractiveness managed to get her a house, a brand new Range Rover, and monthly installments of money given to her. Whoever her sugar daddy or daddies were this time, they were definitely taking good care of her. Still, I had to wonder at what cost.

“You see why you shouldn't have told Phoenix,” I said to Serena, putting some sugar into my coffee.

“Don't be mad at her. Be mad at me,” Phoenix said.

“Oh, I am. I wish y'all would let me handle this on my own,” I said.

“Just like you handled him last night? From the looks of your damn eye, it looks like he handled you good,” Phoenix responded, taking a sip of her coffee as she eyed the bruise on my eye.

“Phoenix,” Serena called.

“What?” Phoenix asked, looking dumbfounded.

“Really? You had to talk about the bruises.”

“I'm pretty sure she saw them when she looked into the mirror this morning. Maybe that will further help her decide not to go back to that punk.”

I rolled my eyes, saying, “You see why I don't ever want to come to y'all with anything.”

“Why you trippin'? You lucky to be alive from what I heard from Serena, and you complaining,” Phoenix said with a sneer.

“Phoenix, don't start with me today. You know you don't want none. I might have got caught off-guard last night, but this morning I'm more than lucid enough to know how to whoop your ass.”

“I'm trying to help,” she blurted like she was doing me a favor.

“But I didn't ask you to, did I?” I said, leaning forward for her to read my lips and hear me good.

“Get your panties out your ass and be happy you got family willing to be there for you. All you have to say is thank you and leave it at that,” Phoenix countered.

I sighed my frustration, asking Serena, “Did you call Dawn and Vivian, too?”

“No, I didn't. I figured we would see them later at our dinner.”

“That's if I go,” I murmured.

“Why aren't you going?” Phoenix asked, frowning.

“I don't need to hear why I let this happen. It's bad enough having to deal with you two.”

“Are we that bad?” Phoenix asked.

“Hell yeah,” I shouted.

“Shauna, I know I come off hard sometimes—” Phoenix began to say.

“You think?” I responded.

“And I acknowledge that, but I act crazy when it comes to the people I love.”

“Not only with the people you love,” Serena said under her breath.

Phoenix nudged her with her elbow, causing Serena to say, “Ouch.”

“Like I was saying before I was rudely interrupted,” Phoenix said, side-eyeing Serena, “I love you, Shauna. I hate this happened to you. Yes, I have overreacted, but I want Cal to get dealt with for what he's done to you.”

“But why is this any of your business?” I asked.

“It's my business because you are my sister. Plus, this has struck a nerve in me because it's happened to me too,” Phoenix confessed.

“Really?” Serena asked in shock.

“Yes,” Phoenix said warily. “I went to this get-together with a guy I was seeing, and he thought he could smack me in front of a bunch of his people because I talked to him a certain type of way and came out my face wrong.”

“He smacked you?” Serena asked.

“Yep,” Phoenix said, nodding.

“What did you do?” I asked.

“I blacked the hell out.”

Tyree giggled as he took the biscuits out of the oven.

“It took four of his family members to pull me off of him. By the time I was finished with him, it looked like a cat had attacked him. Plus, I gave him a black eye.”

“Dammit,” Tyree said.

“He was lucky I wasn't toting my pistol. I swear on my mama I would have shot him dead,” Phoenix said, holding her right hand up like she was being sworn in by a court officer.

“You would have shot him?” Serena asked, giggling.

“You damn right I would have. A man putting his hand on this pretty face? Please. And to do it in front of people trying to prove he had some kind of control over me,” she said with eyebrows raised. “I think what triggered my departure—”

“Departure?” Serena asked, frowning.

“My mind leaving the building,” Phoenix said.

“Oh. Okay.”

“I snapped because this jackass had the nerve to laugh after he slapped me. I think that's what made me lose all sense of reality.”

As much as I loved my sisters and family members, we tended to be a little crazy. No. Let me scratch that. We were a lot crazy. I mean crazy in the sense of some members having papers showing they've been in a mental institute. I had to sometimes question our stability. None of us were quite right upstairs and I knew this.

Just when I didn't think my morning could get any worse, I saw Big Ray walk in the kitchen. He hugged Serena and Phoenix and then went over to Tyree, giving him the brotherly handshake. I was last on his journey of affection. After he hugged me, he pushed my hair back gently and took my face into his massive palms. He tenderly moved my head back and forth, looking at my developing bruises. When he let go of my face, I could see him clenching down on his teeth, causing his jawbone and temples to flex. I knew what this meant. It meant things were about to get real.

“Big Ray, you don't have to do this. I'm okay,” I said, looking up at my six foot five inch cousin built like a brick building, weighing about 320 pounds. His size alone was intimidating, but when it came to the women of the family, he was a big teddy bear. Trying to convince him everything was okay, I said, “I think Cal knows not to let this happen again.”

“I don't know about all that, cuz. He messed up when he touched one of ours,” he said with his deep baritone voice.

“I know he's not crazy enough to try anything else with me,” I said, changing my words.

“How do you know that, Shauna? He hasn't had to deal with any consequences behind this,” Big Ray said, looking sincerely into my eyes.

I could see the pain and anger within him. I still tried to smooth things over so he could leave it alone. “Ray, by the time he hears about all y'all looking for him, he's going to be long gone. He ain't dumb enough to stick around for an ass-whoopin',” I said.