The last thing he wanted to hear was that Gena had been pregnant by Jerrell.
“I said are you okay?” Amelia asked again, realizing for the first time just how deep his concentration was set in Gena mode.
He still loves her. Amelia realized the truth of the matter. She had never thought in a million years that hearing Gena had a miscarriage would even remotely affect him. She honestly thought that his hearing that piece of information would drive him further away from her, and he’d let it go, let her go, even let the money go. However, his reaction indicated that he wasn’t about to let anything go.
“Quadir, I can’t do this anymore,” said Amelia in almost a hushed tone.
“Can’t do what?”
“I can’t pretend. Maybe you can, but I can’t.”
“Amelia, what are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you, me, you and me. It’s nothing, it’s just make pretend. You pretend to have feelings for me that you just don’t have, and I sit here and pretend that maybe, just maybe you’ll forget about her, and love me. But the truth is you won’t, and I’m tired of pretending that maybe you will.”
“Are you saying that I’m in love with Gena?”
“I don’t have to say it. Why does anyone have to say it? I mean, my God, it’s written all over your face,” said Amelia. “She needs you, Quadir.”
“Doc, I don’t understand.”
“That’s your problem, Quadir. You always want to try to figure things out, you always want to try to dissect, to label, to understand and rationalize. Some things are not meant to be understood. Some things are, because they just are. You love her, she loves you, and right now, she needs you more than ever.”
“And what about us?”
“What about us?” Amelia asked with a smile on her face. “Maybe we are meant to be together, maybe we aren’t, maybe it’s just… bad timing, maybe in another life. I don’t know. But, I know this; you need to help her. You are the only one who can.”
“Yeah, but…”
“But nothing, Quadir. I’m here, you know, and besides, you don’t stop loving someone, Quadir. In fact, if it’s true love, it never really ends. It changes, it grows deeper, more profound, it morphs into different manifestations, but it’s always there. True love lasts through time and space and distance.” Amelia paused for a moment, hearing her own words as a tear whelped in her eye. “She loved you, even when you were on the other side. You think that I’ll stop loving you, just because you are across the country?”
“I thought that we were going to go across the country together.”
“Sometimes, people are meant to travel this life together for great distances, sometimes short ones.”
“And you and me?”
“Who said that our journey together is over? Who knows what the future holds for us, Quadir? But right now, what we do know is that Gena needs you.”
“And you don’t need me?” Quadir looked down.
“No, I don’t need you,” Amelia said, knowing that deep, deep, down inside she wished, dreamed, and even prayed for Quadir to be for her. However, no matter how much she prayed and wished on one hundred four-leaf clovers, he wasn’t. And she knew in her heart that she deserved better. She deserved someone for her, someone who would be just for her.
Of course I need you, and of course I want you. And I have been blessed to have you in my life. But I need one hundred percent of you, you know, not half of you, because the other half is still somewhere in the past. Amelia caressed the side of his face. Maybe she should have spoken those words, but she didn’t, and she wasn’t going to. She’d rather he thought the opposite than know that she was truly and deeply brokenhearted.
“I really think that you need to go to her. You need to work everything out with her, and then if you’re sure, sure that your heart is free and you’re sure you want to be with me, then I’ll be here. But not like this. Not like this. Not with all this hanging over your head.”
“I love you,” he said as he leaned forward and kissed her on her cheek. “I owe you my life. I owe you more than words can express.”
“You owe me nothing, Quadir. The only person you owe is yourself. We get one shot at this game called life. One shot. And we have to take that one chance and live it to the fullest. Enjoy every fucking waking moment of it. Never let a sunrise go by without appreciating it and being thankful for a new day. Never walk by a pot of food without tasting it, and never walk by a flower without stopping to smell it.”
Quadir smiled and rose.
“You go and save Gena, you hear me? It’s the right thing to do.”
Quadir nodded.
“Wait a minute, before you go.” Amelia rose and rushed down the hall to her bedroom. She was gone for several moments before she returned. She handed Quadir a black.40-caliber Glock pistol and several loaded clips. “I know, I know. I’m a doctor, what the hell am I doing with that? Well, I’m also a single black woman living alone.”
Quadir shook his head and smiled. “Doc, I have never in life met anyone like you.”
Amelia nodded and smiled. “I know. My daddy says that I’m crazy, but I get it from his side of the family. Hey, you go and find that girl. You find her, and you two get the hell outta this place. I don’t want to hear from you again until you’re safe. You understand?”
Quadir nodded.
“Unless of course you need me, and if you ever need me, you know where to find me. That Glock has a twin right in my closet, and I’ll bust a muthafucka’s ass if I have to. I’ll have to try to save the son of a bitch after I shoot him, but that won’t stop me from pulling the trigger!”
Quadir laughed, leaned forward, and kissed her on her cheek again, before turning and heading for the front door.
“One game,” Amelia shouted. “The only game that matters; the game of life. Be true to that game, Qua. Be true to the game!”
Goose Chase
Who is it?” Markita shouted.
“It’s me!”
“Me who?”
“Me!”
Markita opened her front door to find a stranger standing before her. “May I help you?”
Terrell smiled. “Hey, baby, why you look so disappointed?”
Markita smiled, but wasn’t for the bullshit. If it wasn’t for the fact that the nigga was tall, dark, and handsome, she would have slammed the door in his face. I ain’t hardly disappointed, Markita thought, wondering who he was and what he wanted.
“Were you expecting someone else?” Terrell asked.
“No.” Markita smiled. “I’m not expecting anybody, but you gonna have to come on, ’cause The Young and the Restless is on.”
“Damn, it’s like that?”
“Like what? What do you want?”
“Well, I’m a friend of Gena’s, and she told me she was staying here. I just wanted to drop by and see how she was doing and check on her, you know, see if she needed anything.”
Immediately, Markita let her guard down, not realizing that the handsome stranger standing in front of her was the enemy who had been hunting Gena, not the friend he was pretending to be.
“Oh, Gena, she’s not here right now. You want me to tell her you stopped by?”
“Yeah, that would be great. Do you think you can take my number down and have her call me?” asked Terrell.
“Yeah, sure, let me get a pen.”
And that was it right there. Markita turned from the doorway, took two steps, grabbed a pen off the coffee table, and turned around to find Terrell standing right behind her, her front door closed.
“What are you doing? I didn’t invite you in.”
“I invited myself,” said Terrell, as he began to unzip his pants and fondle himself in front of Markita.
“Oh, my God! Help!” screamed Markita as she tried to run. She made a dash for her bedroom and slammed the door shut, locking it simultaneously. She picked up the telephone receiver and dialed 911. But as the phone rang, Terrell busted through her bedroom door, saw her with the phone in her hand, and snatched it away, disconnecting the call as he slapped Markita so hard she fell back on the bed and then onto the floor. Desperately, she began to crawl across her bedroom floor, but Terrell was on top of her just as she reached her bedroom doorway.