In Your Dreams, Chapter 10: Ericka

Chapter 10: Ericka

A stinging white-hot sensation tore through my flesh at such a high rate of speed that I never even saw it coming. Not comprehending that the warm, clammy substance oozing down my back and making my shirt stick uncomfortably to my skin behind me was blood. Then there he was standing over me, taunting me with that familiar evil grin. Even pointing a gun in my face, he didn’t scare me. He pissed me off. I wanted to fight him. If my legs would just cooperate so I could stand up…They wouldn’t. I managed to sit up a little higher to stare back into his soulless eyes as he watched me suffer with extreme enjoyment.

“All that fucking mouth. What you got to say now, bitch?”

The sarcastic chuckle I uttered sounded more like a strained gurgle as I struggled hang on.

Even on my way to meet my Maker, I couldn’t resist getting in one last shot. “When you brag to your homies, make sure you include the part about you shooting an unarmed chick in the back… O.G.”

The last thing I saw was the fade of that stupid grin before the second blast of fire rushed through my skull.

I jerked erect in my bed with a huge gasp. Cold beads of sweat dotted my forehead and dripped from the tip of my nose. My breath came quick and labored, eyes frantically darting around the black surroundings of my bedroom for that elusive intruder who frequently lurked in the shadows of my subconscious and found it amusing to creep into my head as soon as I entered a deep sleep.

I could still hear the shots, like caps from a starter pistol at a track and field event. And my race would begin like Flo Jo in the four-forty, sprinting to get out of reach of those bullets. But the competition was all in my mind. So was the running since I still hobbled around, leaning on a cane during my conscious hours.

Slow, deep breaths…in the nose… and out the mouth, I soothed myself. There’s no one here but you. Tomika was with my parents and Desmond was right next door. I picked my phone up from the nightstand. It was blinking from a text message I had received moments earlier. I squinted to adjust my eyes to the light. It was Desmond.

“U awake?”

“Yep. U okay?” I texted him back.

“Yeah. Couldn’t sleep. Feel like some company?”

“Sure.”

A few minutes later, I heard Desmond’s key turn the lock. And then him slowly ascending my staircase. I turned, flipping the switch on my bedside lamp in time to see him shield his eyes from the light.

“Hey,” I greeted him.

He sat down at the foot of my bed.

“Hey. Sorry if I woke you up. I got a little restless over there by myself.”

I yawned and began scratching my head through my bonnet.

“You didn’t. I had a nightmare.”

He kicked off his shoes and stretched out the length of my king size bed on top of the covers next to me.

“Wanna talk about it?”

I returned the offer with an indifferent shrug. “Not particularly. What are you doing over here? I thought Carolyn was with you.”

Carolyn would use her head as a battering ram to get into my house if she knew Desmond was up in here with me this time of night. The thought pleased me, and I smiled faintly, hoping he wouldn’t notice and question me about it. He didn’t.

“She was. I took her home. Told her I had to go inspect a job. Didn’t want to have to wake her up early on a Sunday to take her home.”

I pursed my lips and gave him a side-eye. “And she was good with that?”

“No. But she didn't argue with me about it. She still kinda salty at me for not telling her that you lived next door.”

I chuckled. “Oh, she big mad. I'm surprised she didn't insist on staying to keep me from being there. Now that she knows we live right next door to each other, she probably thinks I'm spending every waking hour at home and work trying to seduce you. Stop sending that woman mixed messages. That’s why she don’t like me, now.”

Desmond was indignant. “I’m not! I told her what was up from the beginning. She knows I’m not ready to be serious with anybody right now. .”

“Yeah, right,” I muttered. “You’ve been stringing that girl along for almost a whole year with that nonsense. I wondered what she’d say if she knew you were in here with me this time of night.”

Desmond let out a loud exhale. “This has nothing to do with you. She knows we’re not a couple.”

“I can’t tell, the way she always treating me like a side chick!” I said, disturbing the peace of the night as I raised my voice.

Desmond didn’t respond but covered his face with his hands and lay back on my bed, his feet still flat on the floor.

“I get why you don’t want to get serious with anyone right now,” I reasoned. “There’s no time limit on grief. And you get to decide when it’s time to move forward. But she thinks you don’t want to get serious with her because of me. She thinks I’m blocking!”

He took his hands away from his face and sat up again. “That’s crazy!”

Just then, my phone rang, like a bell at a prizefight, signaling us to go to our neutral corners. I grabbed it and sucked my teeth when I saw the name.

“Who is it?” Desmond asked, leaning in closer to see my screen. He smirked. “Speaking of blocking,” he laughed, propping up on his elbow and resting his head in the palm of his hand to watch me as I answered the phone.

I rolled my eyes. What the hell was Maurice doing calling so late? But I already knew the answer. Like Desmond said. He was blocking.

“Hello?” I answered abruptly.

“What you doing answering the phone at this time of night? You must got somebody in there, if you still up.”

I rolled my eyes inwardly. “Well, what you call for then, Maurice?”

“Because I just seen some pictures of you online at your girl’s party. Thought you were balling up there with the little celebrities and stuff, didn’t you? I seen you all hugged up on Big Daddy Kane. I should’ve been up in there.”

I looked over at Desmond who clearly delighted watching me suffer through an unwanted phone call from my ex-boyfriend at two-thirty in the morning. I wanted to blow a gasket. But going off on him would not deter him for long. I would hear from him again before the week was out.

“You probably would’ve been, if you had acted right,” I jabbed.

“I’m acting right, now,” he countered, unfazed.

“But it don’t matter, now. Because I’m done.”

Maurice sucked his teeth. “Man, you ain’t never gon’ be done with me. This is ME you talking to.

He was holding on tight to the memory of all those times when I’d say I was done, only to take him right back when he showed up later after allowing me time to cool off. He didn’t realize that taking a bullet in my backside at his shop as a result of me waiting on him after he flaked out on me again was just the wake up I needed. It was not an ego stroke for me to learn he decided he wanted me only after finding out I almost died because of him. He thought so, though.

“Whatever, Reese. What’s the real reason you calling me this late? It can’t be no booty call from two hours away. You’re not sitting in my driveway, are you?” I said, suddenly feeling my anxiety rise.

“If I was, would you let me in?” he teased.

“Not if you waited until you got here to call,” I retorted.

He laughed, heartily. “E. Middle, you cold blooded. But, seriously. I was looking at those pictures online. And I was thinking to myself how good you looked. Looking all regal and shit, holding that cane like you was about to twirl it, or something. I wished I could’ve been up there with you because I know the men was on you.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled, his compliments making the ice around my heart begin to thaw slightly.

He continued. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m glad to see you doing good. And I miss you.”

Lord, why he want to be nice and attentive now? Nope, I’m not going to crack. This is a trick!

Since I didn’t want to be the bad guy and mess up the moment after he had been so nice, I just said, “Thanks for saying that, Reese. I appreciate that.”

“You’re welcome. Just know that whether we’re together or not, I’m gonna always have love for you.”

I didn’t have a comeback for that.

“Good night, Reese.” I hung up without waiting for a reply. I sat there for a few minutes in contemplative silence, when I realized Desmond was still lying in bed on top of my comforter fully dressed beside me. He was on his stomach, facing away from me, apparently bored to sleep by the conversation between Maurice and me. I opened my mouth to call out to him but decided to just lay down and go back to sleep, myself. I reached over to turn out the light and then lay back down, pulling the covers up to my chin. As I closed my eyes to go back to sleep, Desmond spoke.

“Blocker,” he said in a low voice, and then snickered.

“Oh, shut up!” I said, shooting him an elbow through the blankets.

We both laughed before falling into a contented sleep.

© 2024, Evelyn Outlaw

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