Tale of the Murda Mamas

found bullets to load it with. He was unsure about taking her to town, but his hand was forced. He did not have a choice.

Ma’tee returned to her side. “Me princess,” he said as he stroked her face with the nose of his gun.

Breeze turned her head in disgust, causing her to vomit even more.

“Me am going to take you to town to see de medical doctor, but chu have to promise not to run. Me run de entire city. If chu say one word to anybody, me will kill chu, young Breeze. Chu understand?”

Breeze did not respond. Hot tears had dried on her ashen face.

“Do chu understand?” Ma’tee asked again.

Breeze nodded her head and felt Ma’tee lift her from the bed. The feel of his hands on her body made her cringe as he carried her to the back of his mansion and into the thick of the jungle. The average person would become lost in the jungle-filled mountain terrain, but Ma’tee had grown up here. He navigated the area well, and knew the dangers that lay underneath the deceiving appearance of the land. Even the most beautiful flower could be deadly.

Breeze tried her hardest to remember the path that Ma’tee took, so that she would know the way to town, but she was so weak and everything looked the same.

“Chu will never remember de way,” he said as if he was reading her mind. “So stop trying.”

They came to a clearing where a green Hummer sat covered in a tarp that was disguised by brush and leaves. Ma’tee sat Breeze down on the ground and removed the large tarp, then placed her in the passenger seat.

There’s a car here, she thought. I have to remember how to get back to this spot, she told herself.

Ma’tee started the Hummer and rode the rough terrain the rest of the way down the mountain, navigating the deadly path like an expert, until he reached the town below.

For the first time in months, Breeze saw other faces besides Ma’tee’s as they passed some of the townspeople, but her health was fading. Everything appeared blurry, and the pain radiating through her body was becoming unbearable.

Ma’tee drove with one hand on his gun and the other on his steering wheel. “Remember what me told chu,” he instructed as the car finally stopped moving.

He attempted to carry her out of the car, but she fought him, pushing him off of her. “Don’t touch me! I’ll walk!” she screamed in frustration. She shook like a leaf in a strong wind as she stepped out of the car, but she was determined to not have his hands on her in public. However, when she put weight onto her poisoned foot, her body came crashing down like a house of cards.

“Stop fighting me and let me help chu,” Ma’tee whispered the words, but it sounded more like a demand as he bent down and scooped her up in his arms.

She had lost a considerable amount of weight and was light as a feather. Against her will, her head fell onto his chest and she looked up at her captor. It was the first time she had ever looked directly at Ma’tee, and his heart melted into her grey eyes. “Please, let me go!” she pleaded.

“I can never do that, my princess. Once you learn to love me, your life will be filled with riches,” he promised. He carried her into the doctor’s office and rushed over to the receptionist’s desk. “Please, help me! Me daughter was bitten by a black widow and is extremely sick!”

The receptionist took one look at Breeze and stood to her feet in a panic. “Doctor!”

The most beautiful woman Breeze had ever seen came rushing out of the back. “Oh my!” she exclaimed at Breeze’s condition. “Please, put her over here… hurry!” Ma’tee rushed and placed Breeze on a stretcher. The doctor began to wheel her to the back of the office while Ma’tee followed closely behind.

“No, please sir, chu need to wait up front and let me do me job. Me will take care of she,” the doctor reassured. “Me receptionist has paperwork for chu to fill out. Me will keep chu updated.”

Ma’tee’s eyes shifted from the doctor to Breeze as he became nervous. He had not planned on leaving Breeze’s side. He nodded and said, “Can I just speak to me daughter for one moment?”

The doctor nodded and Ma’tee walked over to Breeze. “Me will kill chu!” he said as he wrapped his hands around her tiny neck. He applied pressure and leaned over her so that the doctor could not see what he was doing. He had killed many men in his lifetime, and he knew that there was a delicate balance between death and unconsciousness.

Breeze felt her oxygen being cut off, and she wanted to struggle, but her body felt so heavy. The poison was rendering her helpless.

“If chu say a word, me will kill chu.”

Those were the last words she heard before she went un conscious.

Ma’tee had cut off her air supply long enough to knock her out without killing her. He hoped she would stay that way until the doctor would allow him to be by her side again. He turned to the doctor in panic. “She’s passed out! Please help she!” he whispered as he wiped tears from his eyes.

“It’s de poison. It’s shutting down her nervous system. Why didn’t chu get help sooner?” the doctor asked.

Ma’tee played the grieving father well. He acted as if he was so choked up that he couldn’t respond.

“Me will do all me can,” the doctor said before taking Breeze and disappearing behind two double doors.

Ma’tee paced back and forth in the waiting area for two hours. He kept watching the clock, each minute taunting him and threatening to expose him. Finally, the doctor emerged through the double doors.

“How is she?” Ma’tee asked.

“She will be fine, with medicine and rest,” the doctor replied.

“Can me see her?” he asked.

The doctor shook her head. “Not right now. She is still asleep. We have her in a sterile recovery room. Me cannot allow chu back there and risk infection. When she awakens, me will come get chu.”

Ma’tee sat down impatiently, his leg bouncing in anticipation as he watched the doctor disappear into the back once more.

* * *

Breeze’s eyes were so heavy that she could barely open them. Flashes of white light sneaked through her closed lids as she slowly came out of the anesthesia. Her head was groggy, and she could barely remember where she was, but when she closed her eyes, it all came rushing back to her like a bad dream: The jungle; the spider bite; the doctor. Every detail was fuzzy, but it was all slowly coming back to her. I’m at the doctor’s office. I have to get out of here before Ma’tee comes for me, she thought. It took all of her might to roll onto her side. Her neck felt as if she were a newborn baby. She couldn’t support her head and her vision was blurry. Get up! she urged herself. Get up! There was an IV in her arm. She snatched at it. She was so weak that she could barely get the needle out of her arm. Forcing herself to sit up, she stood on wobbly legs which caused excruciating pain to shoot up the right side of her body. She shook her head from side to side trying to clear her vision, and saw that she had an incision that ran down the length of her leg, and that her foot was bandaged. The anesthetic hadn’t completely worn, off and it was hard for her to stay focused. Her limbs were so lazy, every move she made exhausted her, but she fought the urge to lie back down.

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