Page 7 of Through Treacherous Weather
Her mouth went dry as Justice looked over his shoulder. His irises ping ponged across the sea of faces until he found Fatima. He pointed at her, and she watched the color drain from Caleb’s face. The panic on his face exposed his guilt. She saw it and so did Justice. He calmly removed the watch from Caleb’s wrist and eased it into his pocket. Caleb stood frozen, but his homeboys didn’t like the fact that their man had just been punked in the club. One of them puffed his chest out and before he could say two words to Justice, Justice hit him hard enough to make his gold grill fly out of his mouth.
From that hit, melee ensued. The way fists started flying made Fatima gasp. It didn’t take long for Caleb to hit the floor, and two of the Zoes started stomping him out. Fatima’s stomach churned as she witnessed Kadafi hit Shawn with a blow that made blood pour from his nose. She was damn near trampled by four huge security guards. Despite their size, Fatima witnessed them hesitate as they got closer to the brawl. They were outnumbered and didn’t know where to start. Inwardly, Fatima said a prayer that the police wouldn’t be called. Just as Justice kicked one of Caleb and Shawn’s friends in the face, securitygrabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him back. Justice whirled around and him and Loyal started beating the bouncer’s ass. The 6’5 man that had to weigh over two hundred pounds fell like a tree in the forest. Everyone scattered like roaches as his big ass hit the ground.
Justice used the back of his hand to tap Loyal’s chest. They searched for everyone else and hastily made their way out of the club. Minus the Zoes, they all rode to the club together in a black sprinter van. Fatima’s feet burned as she damn near ran in six-inch heels, but she had to make it to the sprinter. Relief washed over her the moment it came into view. Justice got in the driver’s seat, and they all piled in. He pulled off laughing screeching tires.
“You niggas are nuts,” Ryan shook her head.
“You love your nut ass nigga,” Loyal licked his lips as he eyed her seductively.
“Damn right I do.”
“Can you drive a little faster please?” Fatima asked Justice loudly. “If they start making out, I’m going to vomit.”
“He has ten minutes to get me where I need to be before I take my shorty down in the back of this van,” Loyal joked making Fatima fake throw up.
Everyone laughed as Kadafi sparked a blunt. Even though she had been completely against her brother and cousins confronting Caleb and Shawn, it seemed as if things had gone as smoothly as they could, and she was glad it was over. Soon, they’d be on a jet back to North Carolina, and she hoped all would be well. Caleb and Shawn would be a distant memory, and moving forward, she’d be more careful about who she allowed into her space.
Glancing around the van, Fatima thought about how dope it was that every man present was madly in love. Justice, Loyal, Kadafi, Truce, hell even her father and uncle were proof thatfaithful men existed. It was possible to have a man that didn’t play about his woman and that could literally look past any woman he saw without so much as a second thought. She had witnessed time and time again that the men in her life only had eyes for their significant others. The entire time she was in college, Fatima was having a ball. Being in a relationship was the last thing on her mind, but she was done with school. She was an adult, and she had two great paying jobs. Fatima was fulfilled in most areas of her life. Now that she was open to love, she wondered what the odds were of actually meeting her person.
Her brother, father, uncle, and cousins couldn’t stop getting women pregnant meanwhile, Winter was adamant that she wasn’t ready for children. Fatima had no desire to be a baby mama, but she wanted at least one child before she was thirty. She still had plenty of time, but she couldn’t help but to think that she could end up like her Aunt Trinity. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to be the young, fly, auntie, but she did want children. Fatima couldn’t imagine living the rest of her life and not having at least one child. And she wanted to have a child or children with a person that she was madly in love with. Fatima had no desire to accidentally get knocked up by her sneaky link or a one-night stand.
Leaning her head against the window, she drowned out the noise around her and allowed her eyes to close. Going back to Diamond Cove had been the right move for her. Whatever was supposed to come would come, and she made a promise to herself not to worry, stress, or rush it.
Chapter Four
Esco’s eyesdarted back and forth from the left side of the street to the right as he drove. He had no clue if he would find the person he was searching for. Esco had been looking for Sophie for the past twenty minutes. There was one other area that she frequented that he would scour if she wasn’t out in Water Crest projects. Esco pulled at his beard as he took in his surroundings. He’d been playing the same cat and mouse game for the past two years. Other people had given up on Sophie long ago, but he wasn’t ready yet. Esco had never been gullible in his life but when it came to him hoping that Sophie would clean her act up, he seemed to be hanging on to hope that made him feel foolish.
When he spotted her, Esco hit the brakes and looked over his shoulder for a place to park his Escalade. He could tell from the look on her face that she was uncomfortable. Sophie was standing on the sidewalk surrounded by three men who were laughing and more than likely making a spectacle of her. Esco’s jaw muscles flexed as he got out of his SUV. Flicking the tip of his nose, he ambled towards the small group with his gaze locked on Sophie. She wore a white tank top, and it was obvious that her C cup breasts didn’t have a bra securing them. On her bottom half was a short black skirt. Her honey-colored skin had a tan makingher appear a shade darker, and her curly hair was wild, free, and needed to be moisturized.
After two years of being on drugs, Sophie was still pretty. Her teeth weren’t as white as they could be, she barely weighed 150 pounds, and there was no life in her eyes. And even still, Esco could see through all of that and recognize the woman he fell in love with. The love was still there. Esco was no longer in love with Sophie, but he could never see himself straight up abandoning her. He knew he couldn’t save her. She had to want to save herself. No matter how much seeing her strung out hurt, Esco couldn’t fix it, and it was killing him inside.
“If you’re not giving up the pussy get your broke ass the fuck out my face,” a hustler by the name of Ronnie ranted. “Acting like you got morals and shit. You’re a fuckin’ loser. Light skin and curly hair don’t make you better than nobody else. You’re still a strung out pill and coke head sweetie.”
“Fuck you just say?” Esco asked, and Ronnie’s two friends backed up a bit.
Ronnie was calling Sophie a coke head, but he abused the drug himself. Ronnie was the definition of never get high off your own supply. He was still functioning for the most part. Ronnie still wore fly clothes and drove a nice car, but Esco could see the drug use in his sunken in face. It wouldn’t take long for him to be on the same level as Sophie. He was a loser in the making for sure.
Esco could tell by Ronnie’s glassy eyes that he was high, and he couldn’t care less. Sophie’s expression changed from embarrassment to panic. She hated when Esco came on the block and showed his ass on her behalf. Before he opened his own security firm, Esco was a hustler. He was well respected in his old stomping grounds of Water Crest. His reputation preceded him and anyone from the area knew he wasn’t one to play with. The coke put an S on Ronnie’s chest, however, and herefused to be punked on his own block. He stood up as straight as he could. His 5’9 stature wasn’t shit compared to Esco who stood 6’3, but Ronnie still stuck his chest out and spoke with confidence.
“Why don’t you give this bitch some money or keep her loser ass off the block? She’s always coming around begging. It’s money or pussy. If not, she can get the fuck on,” he seethed looking Esco up and down.
A small chuckle escaped Esco before he punched Ronnie in the face. Spectators pulled their cell phones out ready to record and be entertained. Ronnie was numb from the coke he’d snorted, and he ate the punch like a champ. He advanced toward Esco and was hit again before he could throw his own punch. Ronnie barely felt the brutal beating, but Esco beat him to a pulp for almost two minutes. By the time he was done, his knuckles were sore, and blood was smeared all over Ronnie’s face. Esco was pissed that he had the man’s blood on him, and he rushed to his vehicle to grab some wipes.
“Esco, why do you do this?” Sophie walked briskly after him with tears in her eyes. She was fighting a never-ending battle. Spending days chasing a high while hating her life. Sophie often wondered how things had gotten so bad for her but at the point she was at, it didn’t even matter.
“Why do I do what?” he gritted as he cleaned his hands.
“Come where I am and do this,” her arms flailed around. “I don’t care what these niggas say to me or about me.”
“Yeah, ‘cus all you give a fuck about is a high, right?” he snapped still cleaning his skin and avoiding eye contact.
“It’s not easy for me to see the look of disappointment and pity on your face, Esco. So, I damn sure care about more than a high. I care about a lot of things, but I’m a junkie, and I can’t help it.”
Esco finally gave Sophie his attention. He peered into her face with a racing heart. “You can try, Sophie. You can g” Esco stopped himself. He had offered rehab more times than he could count, and every time Sophie chose not to go, it shattered his heart. “You know what, I’m about to go.” Esco reached into his pocket and removed one hundred dollars. “At least get yourself something to eat. After that’s secured, then you can buy drugs.”
Tears spilled over Sophie’s eyelids. Esco was the only man that ever loved her, and she loved him back wholeheartedly. They had shared a beautiful love story, but the demons that she began fighting were stronger than love obviously. Sophie turned to drugs to cope rather than turning to her man, and life hadn’t been the same since. She hated hurting the people that she cared about, but the monkey that she carried on her back weighed a ton, and it wasn’t so easy to get rid of. She wanted life to be different, but she knew it never would be.
“Thank you, Esco. Thank you for not giving up on me even when I gave up on myself.”
