Authors: Treasure Hernandez

Back in the Hood (2 page)

BOOK: Back in the Hood

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Chapter Two

T
he drive to the hospital seemed to take forever, but fifteen minutes later Malek was pulling into the emergency room parking lot of the county hospital. He double-parked right in front of the entrance and hopped out, leaving Mitch in the passenger's seat.

“I'ma park your whip. I'll be up in a minute!” Mitch yelled as he watched Malek disappear into the building.

Malek approached the reception area and bypassed the line of people waiting in front of him, worry and concern plastered on his face. People mumbled and complained about Malek's ditching the line, but he tuned them out. All he wanted to hear was that his baby was all rightâboth of them. He said to the young white intake nurse who sat behind the desk, “My girlfriend was brought here for a gunshot wound. Her name's Halleigh. What room is she in?”

She rolled her eyes and then looked down at some paperwork in front of her. “I'm sorry, sir, but you have to wait in line like everyone else. There are sick people and concerned relatives waiting for information just like you.” She looked past him at the line and yelled, “Next!”

“Look, lady, I'm next! I don't care about a line. I need to know what room my girl is in. She could be dying while I'm down here arguing with you!” he shouted, more out of emotion than anger. He had to keep it together.

A doctor passing by heard the commotion and stopped. “Is there a problem?”

“Hey, my man,” Malek started, “please, I'm just trying to get to my girlfriend. She was shot today andâ”

The doctor cut him off. “Are you here for Halleigh . . .” The doctor flipped through the charts in his hands to find Halleigh's last name.

“Yeah, that's her name,” Malek said before the doctor could finish his sentence.

The doctor looked down at the intake nurse. “It's okay. I'll take him to her.” He began to walk, and Malek closely followed his lead. “We've been trying to reach someone for her since she was admitted yesterday evening.”

“What happened to her? Is she a'ight?”

“She's okay. She's a very strong young woman. We had a lot of gunshot victims come in yesterday as a result of the Genesis shooting. She was one of the lucky ones. Why anyone would want to shoot up a rehab facility is beyond me.”

Malek's heart hit his stomach, and he stopped walking. He had put in the order for the Genesis shooting, and Halleigh had gotten touched behind it.

She wasn't supposed to be there,
he thought.

“Is everything all right?” the doctor asked.

Malek's eyes had watered over from guilt, but he continued following the doctor. “Yeah, everything's good, doc,” he lied. “Can I see her?”

The doctor stopped at a closed door and said, “She's right inside. She's in some pain, but she'll be fine.”

“And the baby?”

“The baby is fine,” the doctor answered with a smile. “We were able to hear a very strong heartbeat.”

Malek exhaled and rushed into the room, where Halleigh was lying, weak, tubes running into her arms. It killed him to know that she was in that state because of him.

He walked over to her bed slowly. Her face was so peaceful, so still, that if it weren't for the up-and-down movement of her chest, he would have sworn she had already left him behind. He placed his hand on her stomach and leaned his head onto her bedside. “I'm so sorry, Hal. I didn't know you were there. I didn't know you were at the rehab center. I swear to God, I'ma make this up to you. I'ma make it right.”

He kicked himself for being so stupid. Before making a move, he should have made sure that she was tucked away safely, but he had no idea she would be at the center. There was no reason for her to be . . . unless she was using again.

He dismissed that idea almost as quickly as it formed in his mind. He knew the symptoms of an addict, and Halleigh had none. No, she wasn't using, yet she had gotten aired out in the middle of the Genesis shootout. It didn't make sense to him, but he was just grateful that his lady was still breathing.

He felt Halleigh's hand wrap around his, and he looked at her in surprise.

“Hey,” she said quietly, her voice scratchy and weak.

“Thank you,” Malek whispered, lifting his eyes to the ceiling, acknowledging God's work. He had never been a Bible-toter, but he was so grateful for Halleigh's safety, he knew a greater power had to be at work. It wasn't the first time that some type of higher power had stepped in and saved the couple from the angel of death. As far as Malek was concerned, there wasn't anyone else he could give credit to but God. It certainly wasn't just plain old good luck. He knew better than anyone that luck had never been on their side. Ever since fate separated them and forced them to survive on the streets, both of them had faced death more than a few times. They had definitely experienced more than their share of bad luck.

Halleigh felt so tired. The medication they had her on was weighing her down, making her feel as if she had gained a thousand pounds overnight. It was even hard for her to move her mouth to talk, but she felt like she owed her man an explanation.

“Malek, I'm so sorry for lying to you. I wanted to tell you I had been going to Genesis, but I knew you would try to stop me.”

“Why, Halleigh? Why would you be going there?” He tried not to be angry that she had been going to the place that was killing his street trade. This was not the time to be thinking about business.

“I have a friend there . . . Scratch. I was trying to help him kick his habit,” she explained. “I wanted to let him know that someone cared. I thought it would help him get better. You know, the same way I knew someone cared about me.” She forced her lips to curve into a slight smile, her sign of appreciation for Malek always being there for her. “That's what got me through. But I had no idea something like this would happen.”

“Hal, when you didn't come home last night, I went crazy. Hearing that you were hurt was like a bullet to the chest, ma. I'm in love with you, and I'm so sorry I put you through this.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, baby.” Halleigh gripped his hand tighter.

“Yes, I do.” Malek swallowed hard, debating whether he should tell Halleigh the real deal. But being the main one who insisted there be no secrets between them, he knew he had to fess up. So, he told her the miserable truth and hoped she could forgive him.

“Hal, I'm the one who gave the order to shoot up Genesis. I pushed the button.”

“What?” she asked in confusion as she withdrew her hand from his.

Malek reached for it again. “Don't do that to me, Hal. I'm sorry. I had no idea you'd be there,” he said.

“Why would you do something like that, Malek? How could you?”

“I didn't know you were there. I was stupid.”

“And if I hadn't been there, the other people there didn't matter? There were kids in there, Malek! People who weren't bothering nobody. They were trying to get their lives together,” she whispered harshly, tears filling her eyes.

It hurt her so bad to think that person she laid up with every night was responsible for the tragedy that had almost taken her life. Halleigh loved Malek to death, God knows she did, but he just seemed to be so hard and ruthless these days, nothing like the Malek who'd stolen her heart back in high school.

“I know, Hal. I know. Let's just focus on you getting better,” Malek said, attempting to calm her down.

“No, Malek.” Halleigh pulled away from his touch. “You don't understand. My mother was in there,” she cried.

Malek was shocked to hear Halleigh mention her mother, especially in a caring way. She was the reason Halleigh ended up on the streets in the first place. If it hadn't been for Sharina and her drug habit, everything might have turned out different. But obviously, Halleigh didn't hold a grudge.

“Yeah, I've hated her for a long time,” Halleigh said, “but she was there, and I don't wish death on her. And my friend was in there.”

“Halâ”Malek started, but she shot him a look that cut through him like a knife.

“I don't even know you right now,” she said as a tear freed itself from her eyes.

Malek knew he couldn't really say anything that would make this better. Everything Halleigh had said was well deserved. He was nothing like the man he'd once dreamed of becoming.

The game was sucking him dry. Sometimes he didn't even recognize himself. He had come so far away from boyhood, but sometimes he still felt like he didn't know shit about being a real man. Back when he was headed for the NBA, he never imagined he could one day become a straight-up killer. But now, forced to survive on the streets, that's exactly what he wasâand it had almost cost him everything.

“I know how you must feel, but please forgive me, Hal,” he pleaded.

Halleigh shook her head as another tear fell. “I'm tired of this, Malek. I love you, but I don't know if I want my life to be like this. For so long I was living wrong, and you judged me for it. But who are you to judge anybody?” She closed her eyes and turned her head away from him.

Malek started to protest, but Halleigh didn't give him a chance to speak as she turned back to face him and then continued, “You don't have to lie and deny it. I can tell you still think about my past. You look at me, and a part of you can't get over the fact that I was a Manolo Mami. I've been working hard to regain your trust, Malek, but you can't throw stones when you live in a glasshouse. You ain't living right either. You shot up a building full of innocent people, Malek! How fucked-up is that?” Halleigh shook her head and waited for Malek to say something, but he didn't.

“Malek, I love you, and I know this isn't you. This isn't the real Malek.” She looked him up and down. “This person standing in front of me, this person I've been living with isn't the Malek I know. I mean, you act like you've got something to prove to somebody, when all that's supposed to matter is me and you.”

Finally finding his words, Malek spoke. “You gotta believe me, Hal. You and me is all that matters.”

Halleigh, through the pain, tried her best to sit up as much as she could. “Do you really mean that, Malek? I mean, if it really is just about me and you, then we have to leave this life alone.”

A smile covered Halleigh's face, as if reminiscing. “Remember before, in high school, what our only goal was?”

Malek smiled and nodded.

“Me too. It was to get the hell out of Flint. So when did that all change? Why did it change?”

Malek shrugged.

“Then let's do it. Let's get out of this city before it swallows us whole. We can go somewhere and be us again. We can go back and be how we used to be before our lives spun out of control.”

“Give it all up,” Malek said more to himself than to Halleigh.

“Give it all up for me. You have enough money to be set for a while. Let's start over,” Halleigh pleaded, getting worked up.

Malek stood over her and rubbed her head gently. “Is that what I have to do to keep you?”

A tear slid down Halleigh's face, and she shook her head. “This is what you have to do to save me, to save us. I can't live like this anymore.”

Malek thought about her words for a minute. He couldn't say he really wanted to give up the streetsâespecially now, when he was just coming into his own. He was the king of the city, and he couldn't deny that he was becoming addicted to the power.

He let himself think about how big he could become if he stayed in Flint. He could give Halleigh and the baby everything they'd ever dreamed of, and everyone would know his name. But then he looked down at his woman, who'd almost died because of him. No amount of money or power would have been able to bring her back.

It was time to give away the keys to the city. If he wanted to keep his woman safe, he'd have to give it all up and move on, whether he wanted to or not.

“Okay, Hal, I hear you. I'll get my affairs in order, and then we'll get ghost and kiss this city goodbye.”

“Are you just saying that, or are you serious? Because do you know how many dudes from the street say they're gonna go legit but then turn around and let the streets keep pulling them back in?”

Both Halleigh and Malek let out a little chuckle. Then Malek said, “Girl, you been watching too much of
The Godfather
. Anyway, I'm serious. I mean it. I wouldn't lie to you, ma, about something like this.” Malek bent down and kissed Halleigh on the forehead. “You gotta trust me on this.”

Halleigh looked deeply into Malek's eyes. “Baby, I do trust you.”

Malek smiled and kissed her again. “Get some sleep, and don't worry about anything. I'll take care of it.”

BOOK: Back in the Hood

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