Miss Wayne and the Queens of DC (The Cartel Publications Presents) (7 page)

“I can’t believe that shit!” Tyrone cries. “What the fuck is goin’ on in DC?”
“This is ridiculous! Not Marlene!” I say in disbelief.
We spend the next fifteen minutes going over the hows and the whys. And in the end all we know is that the murders have finally hit home. We’ve lost someone we have known personally. I’m so sick of death I feel like dying just to get away from it sometimes.
I decide that we shouldn’t tell Adrian right now, since he has enough on his mind as is. But I did go downstairs in the basement to check on him to make sure he’s okay.
“You left the bedroom door unlocked right? Where Adrian is sleeping?” Miss Tyrone asks.
“I made sure it was unlocked when I came upstairs but who knows if he’ll get up and lock it back.” I pause. “He’s livin’ here now?”
“Yeah…he lost his apartment and ain’t got nowhere to go. When you really think about it, had it not been for me, he wouldn’t have a place to live or friends. His family left him a long time ago because he’s gay.”
“Mother Theresa, any other time I’d tell you where to go, but this thing with Marlene has got me fucked up.” I say rubbing my throbbing temples.”
“Me too…but as far as Aid is concerned, I just hope he doesn’t cut himself again.”
I look at him in horror. “He’s doin’ that shit again? I thought he stopped.”
“It’s not as bad as it use to be, but yes, he still does. Look at his thighs if you get a chance. They’re a mess… ripped to shreds. His stomach too. Dayshawn took him to the hospital a couple of months back because one time he cut himself so deep, he punctured his small intestine.” I cover my mouth. “He gotta learn, Wayne. This is the life. But Adrian’s so stupid that he thinks everyone he meet loves him.”
“Stop callin’ that chile stupid!”
“I’m serious. It’s sad.”
As I think about Miss Tyrone’s words, my cell phone rings.
“I guess your lesbian lover is callin’ again.” He says.
“Jealous, bitch,” I say answerin’ the phone.
“Miss Wayne, can you bring me some water?!” I hear Adrian yell from downstairs.
“I got it,” Miss Tyrone says quickly taking a cool bottle of water from the refrigerator. “You take your call.”
That was nice of Tyrone.
I thought.
“What’s up, Parade?”
She’s on the phone for five minutes and already she’s worked herself into a frenzy and my nerves right along with it. With the news of Marlene, I really wasn’t up for the foolishness.
Miss Tyrone returns from downstairs and I watch him put too much salt on the box macaroni and cheese he claims is worthy of awards. I don’t see one bag of real cheese in sight.
Sitting at the table, with my legs crossed, I hold the phone to my ear and listen to Miss Parade’s rants and raves.
“You know I just had the baby, Miss Wayne. You said you would be here for me.”
I sigh before sayin’ anything else. And although I take into consideration that she’s probably sufferin’ from post partum depression, I also realize that lately she’s been like this a lot. Something’s really going on with her and she won’t tell me what it is. And suddenly for some reason I don’t care. What about me? What about my feelin’s? So…I lose it.
“You know what…I’m sick and fuckin’ tired of you and your whinin’! I’m not your mother nor do I choose to be. I have my own damn life to worry about! And if you can’t understand it, fuck off!”
Afterwards I slam my phone shut and look up at Miss Tyrone who’s starin’ at me like he’s lost his mind, his yellow wig on the floor in the kitchen next to his high heel shoes.
“It’s about time you handled that, Wayne.” He says. “Don’t make no sense how you let her talk to you sometimes.”
“Stay out of it, Miss Tyrone. She’s family.”
“Yeah, but you not helpin’ her none by babyin’ her either.” He kicks off his shoes and when I notice he’s doing a weird dance, I wonder why. “You got to cut the cord and let her go.”
The more he says the worse I feel. Miss Parade
is
family.
My
family. As I prepare myself to call her back, I smell something else cookin’ over Miss Tyrone’s fake ass meal.
“Somebody’s tryin’ to out cook you, girl,” I tell him.
“Yeah. Don’t smell like nothin’ to me,” he says as he opens the oven and looks inside. “My corn muffins are almost done.”
“They need to be, I’m ready to eat, even if it is a hot ass mess.” Then I observe him dancing harder. “Go pee, Tyrone! I’m tired of watchin’ you hop around lookin’ all uncomfortable and shit.”
I hear a banging in the house and I wonder where it’s coming from.
“Who’s that?”
“Girl you know these DC row houses are made of paper! We can hear anything Tabitha and them be doin’ next door. From fuckin’ to beatin’ the shit out of her eight kids.”
I shake my head and say, “Only in Southeast.”
Then I take my shoes off, and feel that the floor is hot. “Why is the floor so hot?”
“It’s ‘cause the oven is on. When I cut it off, it’ll cool off.”
As my toes remain planted on the floor, I notice the heat is greater and the banging noise it louder. It’s impossible for the floor to be this hot just because the oven is on. Something’s up!
Suddenly I look around and see smoke comin’ from a vent near the bottom of the floor. “Miss Tyrone, where does that vent lead to?” I point.
“Downstairs…why?” he says slowly seein’ the smoke rise.
We rush toward the basement door where Adrian is and turn the knob. The moment we do, a ball of heat blows us backward. A cloud of smoke so thick appears from the door that we can barely see in front of us. Flames are everywhere. We cough profusely as we back away from the fire. I run into the kitchen and dial 911. The smell of the smoke is suffocatin’ and is already inhibitin’ my breathin’.
“911 what’s your emergency?”
“We need help! Hurry the fuck up!” I say hangin’ up.
“Adrian,” I yell, hacking crazily. “Adrian can you hear me down there?!”
“We have to go, Wayne! Now!” Miss Tyrone yells as he pulls me out the front door and into the yard. He’s stronger than normal and for some reason, I see a flash in my mind of him on top of me…but I can’t recall the event.
“We can’t leave him! We have to go back!” I wrestle with him to go back inside.
“Wayne, look at the house!” he says as my feet nestle in the damp green grass in the front lawn. “It’s goin’ up in flames. He’s gone! Adrian’s gone.”
I cry.
I cry harder.
The fire trucks approach the house and park out front. As they grab their hoses and began spraying the house with water, I pray God takes mercy on Adrian.
The next door neighbor comes running outside with her eight kids. She’s but ass naked with a big hobo style Gucci purse in her hand. This bitch had time to grab her purse but not a shirt? Shake my head.
“Is anyone inside?” a tall light-skin fireman with a ponytail asks me.
“Yes! Yes! My friend Adrian. He’s inside. He needs your help.”
There’s somethin’ about the way he looks at me that makes me uncomfortable.
“I’ll see what I can do, but he’s probably gone. You people should be more careful when you use your hot combs and curling irons around the house.”
“Fuck you just say to me?!” I ask walking closer to him.
He smirks and runs into the house.
I run behind him and Tyrone grabs me back. “Just let him go, Miss Wayne. And let’s hope for the best.”
“I’m ‘bout to push all ten of my knuckles into his eye sockets! He got me fucked up!”
“I know…but let it go.”
The fireman is inside for only three minutes before he runs back out.
“I can’t get inside,” he tells us. “There’s too much smoke.”
“Well go back in! It’s your fuckin’ job!” I say grippin’ him by his uniform forcefully.
“Look, I don’t have time for this shit!” he says grabbing my wrists. “I tried! Okay?!” He throws my wrists down. “And if you ever see my face in the future, don’t ever put your fuckin’ hands on me again.”
“You don’t care! You don’t fuckin’ care if my friend dies or not!”
“I did all I could.” He says as he spits on the ground by my feet, looks at Miss Tyrone and storms away.
I break down in tears and Miss Tyrone holds me as we both witness the chaos surrounding the house. Adrian is so helpless, so young and all alone. Soon I shake him off and run toward the house but another fireman stops me.
“What are you doing?” He’s taller than me and his brown eyes are comforting.
“My friend is in that house and he won’t help us!” I point at the other fireman. “But I will not stand by and allow my friend to die.”
“Look,” he says lookin’ at his fellow fireman quizzically. “I’ll see what I can do. Where exactly is he in the house?”
“In the basement…but I have to show you.”
He grabs me firmly on my shoulders and says, “Let me do my job. Okay? Trust me.”
I nod and he rushes inside of the house. I’m nervous but there’s something about his presence that relaxes me.
We look at the house that continues to burn away before our eyes. Within seconds, the remaining windows shatter and fire shoots out of them under the night sky. All I wanted was to get away for a few weeks and already it seemed as if trouble decided to greet me. I rub my arms briskly and feel overcome with worry.
Within minutes of the thought of Adrian being gone enterin’ my mind, I see the fireman rush out carrying him in his arms. The other firemen rush to him and lift Adrian out of his arms, taking him to a gurney where the paramedics work diligently on his twenty-something year old body.
“Oh my, Gawd! Are you okay, Adrian?” I ask rushin’ behind the paramedics trying to get a look at him.
There are too many of them and they push me out of the way. “You can’t be over here,” a white paramedic with blonde hair says. “He needs air!”
“This is my family and I’m goin’ with him!” I say as they place an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. His eyes open and I feel relief but his body is covered with black soot.
“Sir you can’t be over here! Now move!” the paramedic persists.
And when I turn behind me to thank the man who saved his life, I hear him yellin’ at the firefighter who spit at my feet.
“Look, if you
don’t
want to do your job than
don’t
do it somewhere else!”
“Come on, chief. He’s…a fuckin’ faggot.”
I gasp.
“What if I would’ve gotten the AIDS or something?” the fireman continues.
“This is the second time something like this has happened with you. When we get back to the station, you’re suspended until further notice!”
The fireman takes off his yellow hat, looks at me and storms in the direction of the fire truck. And then for some reason, the man I now know as the chief looks at me kindly. Could he…be…gay?
Naw.
With my attention back on Adrian, I’m able to walk up to him and he reaches for me.
“What, honey?” I say holding his hand. “What do you need?”
He pulls me closer to him and removes his oxygen mask. “You shoulda let me die.”
I was stunned and ask, “Why, baby?”
“The fire…the fire was…”
“Sir, I’m not going to tell you again! Unless you’re blood related, you aren’t going to be able to go with us.”
Then they rush him into the ambulance and I watch them drive him away.
Through everything that was going on, I never once considered that he didn’t want to live. Not once. But how could I? I’ve been a rescuer all my life and dying even if you wanted to was never an option. For me anyway.

“You shoulda minded your own business!” a pretty 13-year old girl said with two long black pigtails as she was screaming in Parade’s face. They all stood in the schoolyard afterhours. “Cuz nobody was even talkin’ to you!”

Parade stood her ground with clenched fists. She didn’t care that the four girls encasing her in a circle, meant her extreme harm. Not even the fall breeze could cool off the angry children. But Parade made a decision to defend the new girl Sky and so she had to deal with the beef that came along with her choice. Her white t-shirt was dirty beyond belief due to tussling with them in the damp grass and the hand-me-down blue jeans she wore were mucky.

Parade’s heart ached as she wiped away some of the dirt that crept onto her skin during the first part of their battle. The small scratches on her dark chocolate skin bled slightly.

Wayne seeing the altercation from a far, ran up to the girls on the small patch of grass. For some reason, he was born with the superhero syndrome. If he couldn’t save someone, he’d die trying.

“I know ya’ll not jumpin’ her,” he said standing in front of her. His pink backpack hugged his back like the acid wash tight jeans and colorful converse he designed himself. He threw the bag on the ground, placed his hands on his hips and stared them down.

He was certainly one of the flyer kids in school with his flamboyant fashions and colors. He went from being unpopular at his last school to rock-star status in two days at the new elementary school.

“Don’t worry ‘bout all that, cause it ain’t gonna be no jump or I’m jumpin’ in.”
At first everyone was silent when Wayne approached. Parade had never seen the boy before and Sky who was several feet behind Parade stood in incredulity. She couldn’t believe the boldness that was Wayne.
And to think, it all started over a boy. Diamond was mad with Sky for taking her boyfriend but she pretty much predicted the entire event. She knew the moment she saw Sky with her long beautiful hair, flawless smooth light skin and expensive clothes, that her boyfriend, One, would want Sky instead. She was right.
“Uggh…,” Diamond, the tallest of the girls said pointing at Wayne. “You ggaaayy!”
Wayne smacked her so hard in the face, her lips trembled like cymbals on a drum set. She dropped to the ground.
“Bitch, you don’t know me so don’t act like you do!”
Diamond on the ground, cried her eyes out. Her three friends walked closer to Wayne in anger and Parade stood by his side. Needless to say, Sky remained where she was, in the background.
Seeing their friend lying on the ground, the girls begin swinging wild arms toward Wayne and Parade. Parade who fought almost every day of her young life, landed traumatic blow after blow to the girls’ faces. Together, she and Wayne beat the dog shit out of the girls sending them running on their way.
Something in Parade’s eyes wouldn’t let it rest. She caught Diamond a few feet out and stomped her like she stole something. At first Wayne and Sky were laughing until they saw the rage in Parade’s eyes. She looked dejected and angry all at once. She had something on her mind…that much was evident. She felt no one cared about her and she wanted to make someone, anyone, suffer because of it. She also harbored a secret so great, she could never tell a soul.
Wayne ran up to Parade and pulled her away from the girl. Diamond lifted her beaten body from the moist grass and ran as fast as she could.
“You aight?” he asked putting one arm around Parade.
“Get the fuck off me! You don’t know me!” Parade yelled in his face. “I didn’t need no help! I had them bitches straight up!” She ran off the field and toward her house.
Although his first time meeting the girl who would one day be one of his closest friends was unpleasant, there was something about her he liked and he made a decision to find out more about her, even if she didn’t want him too.