The Heart of Revenge (21 page)

How Mommy asked me to call her and she’s not
answering her phone. If anything she will call me back. Gonna keep
my phone on for a couple minutes, before I turn it back off. But
... How Mommy just asked me to call and now she’s not hearing her
phone ringing. Something’s fishy.

Gonna call one more time. If I don’t get
through to Mom, I’m shutting off my phone and spinning the lock on
the door. I ain't stupid. It must be Pinky trying something or
another. One last call.

Redialled.

(((Rrring. Rrring.)))

I hope I get her.

The light was fading from Aubrea’s phone. Mi
stare at the phone’s screen, looking at the missed call from
Leelia. The time on the phone was 3:13. Less than thirty minutes
left before Vance’s time to be up. Even if mi do get through to
Leelia now it still too late already. The security got closer. My
hand felt even tighter in the window, and mi blood circulation in
my hand was cutting off. Mi hand start turn red like Santa Clause’
pants.

Mi make one big drag and dragged out my hand.
The whole of my hand start burn mi like mi lotion it with the real
country scotch bonnet pepper or chilli pepper. Mi wipe mi other
hand over it to try cooling it off. Is then it start burn mi. Jesus
man!

Can’t believe mi missed the damn call. I
cursed and kicked the white door , forgetting my leg was sliced, it
sent a sensation through the cut. Mi start get into a piece of
temper. I lifted my elbow to ram the glass and saw the phone lit up
again. The security started walking over faster.

(((Rrring. Rrring.)))

(((Rrring. Rrring.)))

The screen had incoming call from ‘Honey’.
That was the name Aubrea saved Leelia’s number as. Ever since Mom
tried to coax me to sell my soul to the Douglas to save Vance,
which never made no sense to me, losing one child for the other and
selling out myself for money. So mi did refuse, and from that day
mi swear up and down Aubrea start treat mi like mi not her child.
And because Leelia eat the bait, hook and line, selling herself to
help Mom save Vance, Leelia turned her air that she breathed, her
Honey. How can you sacrifice your own child’s life entirely to save
another? Six is one and one dozen the other, because Aubrea running
the chance of losing two of her children. What if the Douglas
decided to do anything terrible to Leelia? God forbid. To me it
just didn’t make sense. I wasn’t going to sell my soul, deceive
people to get their money. It was just wrong. However, God wrote my
life that’s how mi taking it. Pray and leave things to God. Just
have faith and believe, ’cause to be using people is wrong. And
wrong is wrong. Mi wrong?

When I smelled Mr. Douglas’ cologne the early
morning, coming for my little sister, I cried, cried till my chest
turned red, literally. Aubrea took mi to the hospital minutes later
for the asthma attack I came down with from the proper piece of cow
bawling mi put down over my sister leaving. It wasn’t fair. From
that day until now I don't call Aubrea Mommy again. Because it’s
not a mother that. Mi start call her just Aubrea. I didn't even
want her to touch me that morning. Mi did rather she left me at the
house let the asthma kill mi than to touch mi.

(((Rrring. Rrring.)))

The security reached closer. Him face look
serious. Mi turn round and run off, not from the security, ’cause
you know mi not afraid of no security with baton, but to get the
keys from Daddy. I saw Daddy running towards me, his limping was
barely obvious in his strides, he held out his hand with the keys
dangling in front him. Shouting

"You forget the key.”

(((Rrring. Rrring.)))

“Hurry up! Hurry up!”

‘Doop!’ Daddy’s body bounced against the
white door on the driver’s side, he looked out of breath. He was
fumbling with the key at the keyhole to open the door.

“Oh Shit!” Daddy said, limping in haste to go
around to the passenger side.

“What’s wrong?”

“The key can’t open that door, is a different
door that.” The security was coming faster towards us.

“Hurry up! Move your hands fast old boy.”

(((Rrring. Rrring.)))

Inside my mouth felt dry and upsetting, like
I had some dry fish scale in my mouth or pregnant feeling. I spat
to the side of the car and it landed on the car tyre, bright white.
Daddy hassled with the key to get it in the hole. The bunch of keys
fell. The security was at the car. Daddy bent for the keys while
the security coarsely asked,

“Excuse mi big man, what you doing? Is your
car?” he stepped over to Daddy to remove him from the car. I didn’t
say a word to him, I doubled my fist and get ready. Daddy didn’t
give the security an answer either. He was focusing on the keyhole
like he needed his glasses, he turned the key in the lock.

(((Rrring. Rrring.)))

The door opened finally and the phone was
still ringing. The security stopped in mid movement and turned back
around. Daddy didn’t waste a second. He snatched up the phone just
in time to miss the call by less than a second. It was the second
missed call. We waited on Leelia’s third call.

(((Rrring. Rrring.)))

See there. Mommy not answering her phone.
Nothing more than the genial Pinky up to her antics and ism-skisms
again. Hsst.

I locked the door. Not calling back a third
time. Shifted the pile of CD’s neatly in a straight line by the
side of the radio. Shut off my phone.

by: Pinky

We waited and waited and waited on the third
call 3:18, Less than twenty-five minutes to go. No call.

Daddy had the unringing phone in his hand. We
were slogging in bottomless despair to Vance’s bedside, not looking
at each other, not speaking to each other. Dad stopped.

“Why you don’t use Aubrea’s phone and call
her back?” I didn't know why I hadn’t thought of that. She’d see
the call coming from Aubrea, and we all knew that once it was
Aubrea calling and Lee saw, Lee would answer the call no doubt.
Because Aubrea was Leelia’s beginning and ending like quotation
marks.

“But what if she lock off back her
phone?”

“Just try it Pinky, how else you gone
know?”

“But through she did —-“

“You head tough? ... Just call the blasted
thing. Hsst. You wasting time. Call.”

“But suppose —-” Daddy’s patience was sitting
on the edge of a cliff and my questions were pushing him over the
edge.

“JUST CALL ... CALL ... HOLY NAZARETH MAN!
“

Not another beat went by. I dialled Lee’s
number hoping Leelia had her phone on. Daddy eyes were glaring
impatiently. The call was unsuccessful. Aubrea’s phone had no
credit.

“No credit not on her phone.”

“Then transfer your credit to your mother
phone quick nuh.”

“But when mi send my little credit to Aubrea
phone, how mi get it back?”

“Christ man! Mi will buy back a credit, just
do it.”

Mi *128* off my credit to Aubrea’s phone. A
notification came on my phone, advising me that my balance was
$26.23. I needed at least $27.00 to transfer credit. You see if mi
did just hang up in Gloe’s ears a little earlier, mi could’ve make
the transfer. Mi wonder if Digicel realised this was an
emergency.

“Mi can’t transfer it Daddy, mi don't have
enough. You don’t have no credit on your phone?”

“You deaf or something? Mi said mi run out
leave mi phone at the church. Is not you same one say that them
must thief the little piece of old Nokia?”

“You gone bite off my head? Why you acting
like so for?

“Stop chat frigging foolishness man. All of
this is your fault.”

“My fault? My fault? Is me tell Vance to born
with heart problem?”

“If you never —-”

“Don't bother try come pin no blame on mi,
’cause mi don't do nothing. The all of you stand up in the damn
church like poppy-show and not doing a thing after the gal come to
mash up Lee wedding.”

Daddy squinted his eyes to narrow slits,
grabbed my arm. Mi flash him off.

“You think mi is a little child? Is who you
think you can just come grab up so?”

Daddy didn’t use his mouth, annoyance and
chagrin in his knitted brows. He snatched my arm again, unspeaking.
Mi flash out his big burly hand, shoved him in his pigeon chest
with a force that could flatten the Hylton’s Hotel. His strapping
body staggered backward in an awkward motion on his bad leg. The
inquisitive security was scampering over to us, shouting with one
hand waving at us and the other hand holding down the peak of his
security cap.

“Yow! Yow! What happening over there so? ...
None of that! None of that!”

Daddy shattered my face with the hottest box
I had ever got in my entire life. I felt a burning heat almost
pulsing like a heartbeat out the red fingerprint marks that wailed
my face. It was burning so much that the slight breeze against it
stung me. I could not touch it. Water came to my eyes. Daddy stood
stiff and spoke stern.

“Have manners little girl, you still mi
daughter.”

Mi spit to the side. It was a mixture of
white and red. I looked at a big rock stone on the ground, but ...
I didn’t bend for it. I hugged Daddy and cried. He hugged me,
rubbed my back. Mi rested mi head on his shoulder, he rested one
hand at the back of my head, hushing me. The security walked back
to his station glimpsing over his shoulder at us several times.

“Sorry man Pinky, but sometimes you need to
think before you do things.” I leaned off his shoulder, fixed the
weed in my bosom and replied,

“Yeah, but mi never want mi sister wedding
spoil.” Mi wiped my lips, and as my hand went down to my side. He
held on to both my hands and held them steady at my side.

“Well if you did talk to the girl or even
just hold her back, none of us wouldn’t be here so now.”

Daddy didn’t argue further, instead he
asked,

“Is what time now?”

“Three twenty nine.” Less than fifteen
minutes. Vance was a goner. No way on earth Leelia could reach in
less than fifteen minutes, it was not physically possible. I spoke
with strong hope and determination in my voice,

“Alright. Let’s run go buy a credit to put on
Aubrea phone, hopefully Leelia phone still on. Because if she got
the credit card number we can still make it.”

“It can work so? Mi never know that.”

A twinkle was in his eyes. The same proud
twinkle that was in his eyes when mi get the highest average in the
entire eighth grade, ninth grade and eleventh grade. I guessed he
was proud of my wits. We rushed outside the hospital, looked right
and left and spotted a Digicel poster sticking out the side of a
blue board shop under a huge guango tree down the road.

We hurried over. I stood by the red igloo
that was on four blocks. You could pick up that the cover of the
igloo was originally white, but now it looked closer to black dirt
color. Dad stretched a five hundred dollar bill to the
heavy-breasted old-lady. The sleeve of her oversized t-shirt, with
Digicel printed in the chest, caught in the lollipops sticking up
out the jar by the counter as she served the card. Dad handed me
the card, staring blankly into Mars. I scratched the silver off the
back of the voucher with my false nails and punched in the voucher
number to Aubrea’s phone. The time on her phone was 3:36. I
hastened to call Aubrea. Daddy spoke with the old lady.

“You don’t have anything strong to drink in
there?”

The sound her thin lips made when she smacked
her toothless mash mouth was louder than her shaky voice. “Like
what mi son?”

“Like some rum or so.”

“No, but you can go check the bar down the
road.”

“Where?” She stuck her saggy neck through the
opening of the blue counter door. Her voice got even more wobbly as
she spoke,

“You see where that man stand up in the blue
shirt?”

“Beside the orange container?” Dad asked. She
shook her head impatiently.

“No, no. Watch mi where mi pointing nuh.” She
pointed with one finger, the deep wrinkles wrapping around her
knuckles looked like seasoned creases in genuine leather handbags.
“Right at the red awning, you don’t see the police car and the man
in the blue stripe shirt beside it?”

Daddy was nodding yes while she continued to
direct him. Mi couldn’t move as I saw what was in Aubrea’s phone.
Daddy answered her letting her know that his head not that
thick.

“Yeah man, yeah man, mi see is where. Thank
you Grandma.”

“Yeah man sonny.”

Mi just staring on the phone and can’t
believe this all now.

“Pinky call Leelia. You don’t realise that
time going?”

Mi dial Lee, before mi go check out what is
going on in Aubrea phone. Lee’s phone did turn off. Mi dial again.
Off. And again. Still off. One more time. Off.

“Same thing Daddy, her phone turn off.”