“I never said you were bad. Just different.”
There was silence in the room until Jackie said “Hello.”
Travis turned around and stood up quickly as Me’shelle came into the room. “Jackie, this is Me’shelle.”
“It good to finally meet you,” Jackie said, extending a polite hand.
“So, you’re Jackie, Jackie, Jackie.” Me’shelle smiled and accepted her hand. “Some days all Travis talks about is Jackie, Jackie, Jackie.”
“You’re not jealous, are you? Because I assure you, you have nothing to fear from me. In fact, Me’shelle, you and I are gonna get along just fine,” Jackie said as she looked Me’shelle over.
“Are we?” Me’shelle asked cautiously. The look on Jackie’s face was making her feel just a little uncomfortable.
“Yes, Me’shelle, we are,” Jackie said and smiled at Travis. “Because all I want is for Travis to be happy, and he is happy with you. We were just sitting here talkin’ ’bout how he’s changed. And what’s changed him is you. You’ve been good for him. So, I’m hoping that change rubs off on all of us.” Jackie stood up. “So, come give me a hug so I can go.”
Me’shelle and Jackie hugged. Jackie winked at Travis.
“I’m not running you off, am I?” Me’shelle asked.
“No. I just stopped by on my way to perform a mission of mercy.”
“What?” Me’shelle said.
“I gotta go pick up Ronnie, but if y’all are gonna be here for a while, I can pick up Ronnie and swing back through.”
“We were getting ready to go by Me’shelle’s apartment so she can change for dinner.”
“Mind if me and Ronnie tag along? I know Ronnie is dying to meet you. ”
“No, not at all,” Me’shelle said. “I’m dying to meet Ronnie too. I’ll be a while changing, Travis, so why don’t you go with Jackie to pick up Ronnie? Then you can come by my house and pick me up.”
“You sure?” Jackie said sweetly.
“Yes.”
“Come on, Jackie. I’ll walk you to the car and tell you where she lives,” Travis said, ignoring Me’shelle’s suggestion.
Chapter Forty-one
As planned, Jackie made it out to Yonkers and picked up Ronnie. While he put on the clothes she’d brought for him, Jackie couldn’t wait to tell him that she had met Me’shelle, and that she was fine. “He wouldn’t even ride out here with me.”
“What part of that surprises you? Pussy-whipped nigga.”
“Look who’s talking,” Jackie shot back. “You calling him pussy-whipped, but some bitch left you out here butt naked, with no truck and no money.”
Ronnie laughed. “I guess she didn’t appreciate me calling her a triflin’ money grubbing bitch.”
“I think that’s enough to piss her off. You should be glad that all she did was leave you here asleep. She could have cut your dick off.”
“Maybe,” Ronnie said and thought about a few other things that a pissed off Paulleen could do to get him back.
Me’shelle and Travis drove over to her apartment to get ready for dinner. On the way over, Me’shelle told Travis that she thought Jackie was sweet. “But should I be afraid of her?”
“Even though Jackie is at best bisexual, I don’t think that you have anything to worry about,” Travis assured her.
While Travis waited in the living room and channel surfed, Me’shelle wandered around her bedroom, trying to decide what to wear. The doorbell rang.
“That’s probably your friends,” Me’shelle said as she went to answer the door. She stepped out of her apartment into the foyer and looked out the window. Outside were three men she’d never seen before. It was Miller, Jordan and Blue. When they began to bang on the door, Me’shelle ran to get Travis.
Travis came out to take a look. “They’re armed,” Travis said as he took out his gun. “Is there another way out of here?”
“Through the basement and out the back door.”
“Come on.” They ran down the steps into the basement just as Blue kicked in the door. As Me’shelle escaped out the back door, Travis settled himself, ready to shoot the first one who came down the steps.
Blue was the first to come running down, followed by Jordan. Miller went into Me’shelle’s apartment and began to look around. In the basement, Travis took aim and fired, but he missed. Blue fired back wildly, and Travis ran out the back door.
Me’shelle ran through the yard and climbed over the fence to the street. Travis was right behind her. He made it over the fence just as Jordan and Blue came out the back door blasting. Me’shelle ran down the block but stopped to look back for Travis.
“Keep goin’!” Travis yelled, but she waited for him anyway. Jordan and Blue hopped the fence and began shooting. Travis and Me’shelle ducked behind a car and Travis shot back. When Jordan and Blue took cover, Travis and Me’shelle took off running.
“Where do those woods lead?” Travis asked as they ran.
“It comes out on the next block,” Me’shelle answered, still running.
Inside Me’shelle apartment, Miller was tearing up the place, looking for whatever he could find, getting angrier by the second because there was nothing of any real value in the entire apartment. Miller was just about to search the bedroom when he heard voices.
Jackie and Ronnie approached Me’shelle’s apartment building and noticed the door had been forced open. The wood on the frame was splintered and the door was hanging off its hinges.
“Do you hear that?” Ronnie asked.
“Hear what?”
“Sounds like gunshots.”
“What part of that surprises you?” Jackie asked as she stepped into the foyer.
As Jackie stepped inside, Miller came out of Me’shelle’s apartment. He raised his gun and fired at Jackie.
“Gun!” Jackie yelled as she pushed Ronnie back out the door.
Miller fired a couple of shots through the window before running into the basement and out the back door. Once the shooting stopped, Jackie and Ronnie went to the car, armed themselves, and came back to the building. They went inside the open apartment and looked around for Travis. Not finding him there, they closed the apartment and went to the basement, moving carefully down the steps.
By the time they got down there, Miller was gone and the basement was empty. Ronnie went out the back door. He could hear gunfire coming from down the street. “Get the car, Jackie, and meet me around the block,” he instructed then ran though the yard, jumped over the fence and moved cautiously in the direction of the shooting.
Ronnie stood at the edge of the woods and waited for Jackie to get there with the car. “I don’t hear any more gunfire, but I’m pretty sure that they went in the woods,” he told her when she arrived.
“These woods come out on the next block. I’ll drive around and meet you on the other side.”
“Okay,” Ronnie agreed and headed into the woods.
Travis and Me’shelle made it through the woods and hid behind a car. Travis knew that he had to be almost out of bullets. He looked at Me’shelle. She was out of breath and she looked scared, but she was surprisingly calm under the circumstances. “You okay?”
Me’shelle nodded, but she was scared, very scared.
“Get under the car and stay there no matter what,” he told her. Me’shelle quickly complied.
Jordan and Blue came out of the woods and looked around. “You go that way,” Jordan said, then he and Blue
