Authors: Treasure Hernandez
Choosing Sides (7 page)
Chapter Eight
H
alleigh had walked for what seemed like hours in the freezing weather before she finally reached the large jailhouse building. She was exhausted, but she knew that she had to get to Malek. She just wanted to see him, to know that he was okay. She pulled her damp T-shirt down below her knees and entered the building.
alleigh had walked for what seemed like hours in the freezing weather before she finally reached the large jailhouse building. She was exhausted, but she knew that she had to get to Malek. She just wanted to see him, to know that he was okay. She pulled her damp T-shirt down below her knees and entered the building.
“Are you okay, young lady?” an officer asked her as she entered through the Flint precinct's glass double doors. He couldn't help but notice her bare feet as his eyes stayed glued on them momentarily.
Halleigh followed the officer's eyes down to her own bare feet. She hadn't even realized she had been walking around barefoot all of this time. The fact that her shoes had come off during her kicking and trying to get away from the assailants quickly reminded her of the ordeal she had gone through. She shuddered at the thoughts. It was at that moment that she wanted to say to the officer, “No, I'm not okay. I've been raped,” but she wasn't there for herself. She was there for Malek, the boy who might have lost everything because he was trying to be there for her.
Halleigh shook off the selfish thoughts of herself and replied to the officer, “I'm looking for my boyfriend,” she said in an almost inaudible tone. “He was arrested earlier.”
The officer took his position behind a desk and flicked on his computer. “What's his name?”
“Malek Johnson.”
The officer didn't even need to finish typing in the name. The jail had been a circus ever since the young man had arrived. “We can't allow anyone else in to see Mr. Johnson,” he stated firmly. “The next person that sees Mr. Johnson better have bail money.”
“No! I need to get him out of here,” she pleaded.
“Malek Johnson can't go anywhere until he sees a judge, which ain't gonna be until Monday morning. And I wouldn't be surprised if the judge sets his bail at a million dollars for the little stunt he pulled. Just imagine all those kids from the projects that looked up to “the pull.” And this is how their role model pays them back.” The officer shook his head. “Crying shame, crying shame.” The officer began shuffling papers, dismissing Halleigh as if she wasn't important.
Halleigh put her hands over her face and sighed deeply as she tried to keep her composure.
The officer looked up and saw she was still standing in front of him. He frowned in concern. “Young lady, how old are you anyway? Why are you up here like this by yourself?”
She lied as she walked away from the desk, “I'm grown.” With nowhere to go, she found a seat in the waiting area.
“Seems to me someone as grown as yourself would at least be able to afford a pair of shoes then,” he called out.
Halleigh didn't respond. She just sat there thinking,
I'll just stay here until Monday if I have to. I have to see Malek. I want to be here when he gets out.
In her heart she knew that she had no other place to go.
I'll just stay here until Monday if I have to. I have to see Malek. I want to be here when he gets out.
In her heart she knew that she had no other place to go.
Taking pity on her, the officer approached her. “Here,” he said, extending her a pair of jail-issued flip-flops, “at least put something on your feet.”
“I'm tired of y'all pig mu'fuckas always locking a bitch up! Damn! Get on my nerves. Got me in this musty mu'fucka.”
Halleigh had been leaned up against the precinct wall, trying to ease her mind, when the loud voice snapped her out of her restless sleep.
“Give me my shit!” The girl snatched her belongings from the officer sitting behind the desk. She sat down and pulled a pair of stilettos and some cheap jewelry out of the bag that the officer had given her. She put the shoes on her feet, applied her bracelets to her arm, and sashayed out the door. “Fuck y'all!” she yelled, slamming the door closed behind her.
After all the commotion died down, a female officer, the one who had just been handling the screaming woman, walked over to Halleigh. She had noticed that Halleigh had been there for quite a while now. “Excuse me, young lady, but can we help you with something?”
“I'm just waiting for Malek Johnson.” Halleigh tried to sound grown-up and undaunted by authority.
“Well, you can't wait here . . . unless you want to get arrested for loitering.”
Now she could see why that woman had been going off. These cops were jerks. As bad as Halleigh wanted to show her ass, the only words that came out of her mouth were, “Whatever.” She sighed under her breath as she got up and left the station.
The late winter air was colder than normal. The weather had shifted from a slight drizzle, to a downpour, to a thunderous shower with lightning and everything. Heavy rain drops pelted against Halleigh's skin so hard, she felt like she was lost in a hailstorm. Here she was, standing outside wearing nothing, but the flimsy T-shirt. And the flip-flops on her feet were soaked and didn't keep her toes warm. She was freezing and didn't know where she could possibly go until Monday morning.
Then she heard a familiar voice say, “Damn, Tash! Come the fuck on!”
When she looked up, it was that same girl who had caused the commotion earlier in the police precinct. She was pacing, switching her hips back and forth as if she were trying to create some type of friction between her legs. She was fidgeting just to stay warm.
“Come on, Tash. It's cold out here,” she complained to herself out loud. Just then she noticed Halleigh walking by. She held up her hand and halted her as if she were hailing a taxi cab. “Ay, yo, you got a light?” she asked Halleigh.
Halleigh shook her head.
“Fuck,” the girl snapped.
Just then, Halleigh watched as the girl walked to a car that was parked on the side of the street, looked around to make sure no one was coming, and then tried the door, which opened. Halleigh peeped her surroundings nervously.
I know this girl is not breaking into a car right in front of the police station.
I know this girl is not breaking into a car right in front of the police station.
The girl popped in the car lighter and stood outside the car waiting a couple minutes for it to heat up. She lit her cigarette and then quickly closed the door and took her place back on the street to wait for her ride.
The girl looked Halleigh up and down and noticed her disheveled appearance. “Damn, girl, what happened to you?”
“You don't even want to know,” Halleigh replied, blowing hot air from her mouth into her hands.
“You waiting for a ride or something?” The girl puffed her cigarette.
“No. I don't know what I'm doing. My boyfriend is locked up. They talking about he has to wait until Monday to get a bail set.” Halleigh looked defeated. “Even then, I don't know how I'm going to come up with that. He's in all of this mess because of me, trying to look out for me. I don't know what to do.” Halleigh's hands dropped to her sides as the rain washed her tears away.
“Where you stay?”
Halleigh looked around. “Right now, where I stand. I just need a place to think. I have to figure out what I'm gon' do.”
“Well, it's colder then a bitch out here,” the girl commented. “You ain't gon' figure nothing out waiting outside, especially in this cold-ass rain.” She sucked her teeth. “What's your name?”
“Halleigh.”
“I'm Mimi.” She noticed that Halleigh was shivering and took pity on the girl. “Look, girl, you can crash at my spot if you need to. At least for the night. My daddy will probably be able to help you out too. He can help you get your boy out of jail if you want him to.”
Halleigh didn't know Mimi from the man on the moon, but as of now, she had officially run out of options. She figured that anything would be better than being on the streets, so she decided to accept Mimi's offer. “You sure your daddy won't mind?”
Mimi smirked and looked Halleigh up and down and then licked her lips. “Nah, he won't mind, trust me.”
Halleigh stood next to Mimi on the street as they waited for Mimi's ride to pick them up. She didn't want to seem like a charity case, but she didn't have anywhere else to go. For a moment she thought about going to Nikki's house. Nikki had a single mother too, but her mother was more strict on Nikki than Halleigh's mother was on her. Nikki had the type of mother who made phone calls to make sure a situation was kosher. Halleigh couldn't go and stay for two nights at Nikki's without raising suspicion. Besides, she didn't want Nikki to know about the disasters that had happened to her and to Malek. She knew that, underneath, Nikki had envied their relationship, and she would be glad to know all their plans had been shipwrecked.
Malek was locked up, so of course, staying with him wasn't an option. And her mother was so strung-out that she had sacrificed her relationship with her daughter just to get high. Halleigh knew that she would never walk into her mother's house again. There was no repairing their relationship.
I hate her,
Halleigh thought, feeling bombarded with mixed emotions of hatred, anger, and disgust for her mother.
I hate her,
Halleigh thought, feeling bombarded with mixed emotions of hatred, anger, and disgust for her mother.
Mimi paced up and down Saginaw Street puffing on her cigarette. She kept looking up and down the block to see if her ride was nearing. She looked down at the girl that she had befriended and could tell that she was carrying a large burden on her shoulders. “Here, hit this. It'll calm your nerves.” Mimi offered Halleigh a drag of her Newport.
Halleigh shook her head. “I don't smoke.”
Mimi shrugged her shoulders and took a long pull of the nicotine as she continued to pace back and forth, her silver stilettos that laced up her slim legs clicking back and forth. She wore a short silver halter dress, and her hair was braided straight to the back, her extensions causing it to fall right above her butt. Baby hair rested along her edges.
“Where the hell is this girl at?” Mimi muttered impatiently.
“Are you sure this is all right? Your daddy won't mind it if I stay the night?” Halleigh furrowed her eyebrows together in worry. She pondered over her situation. Who was this woman whose father would allow her to bring a stranger home? He must be a nice man, or why would Mimi even offer to allow this?
Mimi looked her up and down again and smirked. “Nah, like I said before, he won't mind. My daddy will be happy to have you. He'll help you figure everything out.” Mimi's last sentence was said in a sing-song tone.
Just as Halleigh was about to reply, a caramel-colored girl with long layered hair pulled up in a Toyota and honked the horn. “Mimi, get in!” she yelled.
Halleigh anxiously waited near the curb while Mimi strolled over to the car. “Come on, Hal,” Mimi called.
Instantly Halleigh picked up on the fact that Mimi had already used her nickname, as if they were friends. As if she'd known her forever. A sense of security swept over Halleigh, like everything would be okay. She began taking steps toward the car.
“Mimi, get your ass in the car!” the girl shouted from inside the car just as she noticed Halleigh making her way over to the car too. “And where the fuck she think she going?”
Halleigh stopped in her tracks as she looked helplessly at Mimi.
“Tasha, chill! She needs our help. She needs to meet Daddy.” Mimi spoke through clenched teeth.
Tasha peered out at the girl who was standing beside her car. It was obvious that the girl had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy. She was shivering, and her arms were wrapped around herself as if she were afraid. “Tell her to get in,” Tasha said with an attitude. Heaving a sigh of resignation, she put the car in drive.
“See, I told you everything would be cool. Get in,” Mimi said to Halleigh as she opened the back door for her.
Halleigh got into the car and rode silently as she watched the city streets pass her by. She could feel Tasha's eyes on her as she glared at her from the rearview mirror. She kept feeling her stare and started feeling uncomfortable in the confinement of the car.
“You know Manolo about to trip on you, right?” Tasha asked as they pulled into the driveway of a ranch-style home on the city's South Side.
“He'll be cool once he sees what I got for him.” Mimi shuffled dollars together from inside her purse.
The three girls exited the car and entered the house. There were several girls scattered throughout the house. Some were lounging in the large living room, others were getting dressed and rushing about as they prepared to leave, still others walked freely throughout the house wearing nothing but their underclothes. Most of them had high-perched breasts, smooth thighs without cellulite, and round cantaloupe-shaped hips. There appeared to be about five women in all.
“This your daddy's crib?” Halleigh asked, scanning the large rooms with wonder.
“Yeah, he probably in the back,” Mimi replied.
Halleigh noticed Tasha roll her eyes as she followed them down a long hallway in the five-bedroom house. They entered the room, and Halleigh saw a tall, well-built man sitting in a recliner in the corner of the room and puffing on a blunt. The first thing that she noticed was his long, perfectly manicured fingernails.
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