The ringing of a phone snapped her to attention. I have to get to that phone, she thought. Breeze was in a state of emergency. This was her only shot to reach out to her family. She knew that if she didn’t make it to that phone, she could kiss everything she ever knew goodbye.
She forced herself to stand on her injured foot. She wanted to scream at the pain that she felt when she was fully standing, but instead, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths until the blinding ache died down and she was able to move. The excruciation kept her alert as she used the objects in the room to help her toward the door. “Where is the phone?” she whispered to herself. She stuck her head into the hallway. She could see the double doors that led to the lobby. Behind them was Ma’tee, lurking, preying on her. Her heart rate increased from the fear of seeing his face again.
Desperation and adrenaline filled her as she put her back against the wall and crept to the next room. She opened the door and frantically scanned for a phone. “Thank you, God!” she cried as she rushed toward it. Moving too quickly, she fell. “Aghh!” she accidentally cried out as her leg hit the floor. She covered her mouth to stop herself from making too much noise. Tears flooded her face as she reached for the phone. The dial tone she heard was like music to her ears. Her fingers trembled as she tried to dial out, causing her to call the wrong number, 810. Shit! What is his number? Her mind was so frantic that she could barely recall the correct sequence, 1-810-625-1816.
She could hear footsteps coming down the hallway, and she cradled the phone for dear life. Please answer! Come on, please pick up!
Ring! Ring!
Answer! she begged as the footsteps drew closer.
Please, I need you…
Ring! Ring!
Zyir bobbed his head to the Rick Ross that was blaring from his speakers, when he felt his cell phone vibrate on his hip. He was on his way back from Opalocka, and he had a quarter million dollars in his trunk and rode with a pistol in his lap for extra security. He turned down the stereo and looked at the unknown call coming in on his BlackBerry. “Yo?” he answered.
All he heard was crying in the phone, and he started to end the call thinking that someone had the wrong number.
“Zy… Zyir!” the shaky voice said.
He recognized her voice instantly. Emotions came rushing over him. “Breeze?” he whispered in disbelief as his heart sank into his stomach.
Breeze was so hysterical when she heard him answer the phone that she couldn’t get her words together. Every time she tried to speak, only sobs came out.
“Breeze, talk to me, ma! Calm down! Where are you? You’ve got to tell me where you are!” she heard him yell.
Just the sound of his voice caused her to fall apart. “Zyir!” she whispered frantically. “Zyir, please…” were the only words she was able to get out before the footsteps were at the door. She hurried and pushed the telephone underneath the bed, but didn’t disconnect the call.
The door opened, and a confused doctor rushed inside. “What are chu doing in here? Chu should still be in recovery,” she said.
“Please, Zyir… I have to talk to Zyir!” Breeze pleaded with the doctor, but she was quickly silenced when she heard Ma’tee demanding to see her. The heavy impact from his boots echoed against the hospital floor, announcing his presence. “Don’t let him take me!” Breeze cried as she looked the doctor in her eyes.
The doctor could see the frightened look on Breeze’s face, and she instantly knew that something was not right.
When Ma’tee appeared in the doorway, the doctor looked from Breeze to Ma’tee.
“Is everything okay back here?” he asked.
His voice was eerie and threatening. Breeze’s fear of him was so great that she felt like she was having a heart attack. She couldn’t stop herself from crying. Zyir was so close. She had heard his voice. I just needed a few more minutes to tell him where I am, she thought as she sobbed.
“Everything is fine,” the doctor answered nervously. She helped Breeze into the bed and lifted her leg. “She is in a lot of pain, and I haven’t administered her any pain medications yet. This type of pain will make a grown man cry. It is not unusual.”
“Me need to get her back home. She can recover there,” Ma’tee asserted. His tone did not leave room for protest, and he came into the room and sat next to Breeze who trembled timidly from his presence. Ma’tee examined her closely, intimidating her.
The doctor could sense tension in the air. She rubbed
Breeze’s shoulders. “The anesthesia has she temperature low,” the doctor said, covering for Breeze.
Breeze wasn’t shaking because she was cold. She was angry. She was terrified. She was praying that Zyir had not hung up his phone and that he could somehow save her.
The doctor looked Breeze directly in the eyes and said, “Everything will be fine. “I’m going to get discharge papers for you to sign, young lady. Me will be right back,” she said.
The doctor disappeared, and Ma’tee sat down directly on the bed with her. The smell of him nauseated her and made her skin crawl. He didn’t say a word to her, but instead stared at her intensely, trying to determine whether or not she had told anyone anything.
Breeze closed her eyes and thought of Zyir. She recalled his face in her mind, and forced herself to calm down.
The doctor reentered the room. “Oh, please sir. You can wait in the hallway while she dresses. Me will help she, and then get chu de medicine she needs. She will be fine,” the doctor said.
Ma’tee reluctantly left the room, but he made sure to watch through the peephole at the top of the door.
The doctor handed Breeze a clipboard. Her hands shook, because something told her that this young girl was in grave danger. She knew who Ma’tee was. Everyone in Haiti knew who he was and what he was capable of. The doctor did not want to get involved out of fear of being hurt herself.
Breeze cried as she took the pen. She wrote her first and last name on the clipboard, and then jotted a quick note.
Please help me! Call this number, 1- 810-625-1816. Tell him I am alive. I’m trapped somewhere in the mountains. Please!
Breeze dressed slowly, and then Ma’tee whisked her away from the doctor’s office and back up to captivity.
Chapter Seven
“Breeze!” Zyir screamed into the phone as he strained to hear the conversation on the other end of the line. He could barely hear what was going on, but he knew that it was her. He felt it in his gut. She had only said his name, but she was the only person who had the ability to say it so sweetly. “Breeze! Pick up the phone!” he yelled. Tears came to his eyes when the call was disconnected. His heart was beating so rapidly that he had to pull the car over. He hit his steering wheel in frustration. She had called him. He didn’t know where she was or why it had taken her so long to reach out to him, but she was alive, and he had to find her. He picked up his phone and speed-dialed Young Carter.