Life After A Balla

“Cruze where the fuck are you? Payton and I were in an accident, and she had to undergo emergency surgery. Come to Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale A.S.A.P!” she said, slamming the phone down. She stood for a few seconds thinking, before dialing Kareem’s number.

Maybe Cruze went home and fell asleep, Skye thought, as she waited for Kareem to pick up his phone. She tried her best to give him benefit of the doubt.

“Hello,” Kareem answered in a groggy voice obviously still asleep.

“Is Cruze there?” she immediately asked him.

Kareem breathed in the phone as if he was irritated. “No. He’s not here.”

“Well, wake up, I need you to call him for me. His phone keeps going straight to voicemail.”

Kareem immediately became irritated. “No, I’m not calling him. You need to stop sweating that nigga so hard. If it’s going straight to voicemail that means he turned it off.”

Her blood pressure went sky high as soon as she started yelling. “Look, I’m not in the mood to deal with your bullshit right now, Kareem. Payton and I were in a car accident. I’m in the emergency room. Now, do what I told you!”

Kareem’s tone instantly changed. “In the emergency room? Are you guys alright? What happened?”

“I totaled the car. I’m bruised and banged up, but Payton is the one who really got hurt. She’s in surgery.”

“Oh my God. What happened to her?”

Skye could hear Jordan in the background upset, asking Kareem if he could speak to her.

“Her leg is broken, and that’s all I wanna get into. Right now, I need you to keep calling Cruze for me so he can come up here. I lost my phone in the accident so I’ll have to keep calling you back. I gotta go,” Skye said, ending the call when she saw a tall woman holding a clip board walking toward her. Moments later, the Amazon woman stopped directly in front of her.

“Excuse me, are you Ms. Washington?” she asked.

“Yes, I’m Ms. Washington,” Skye replied. She was so glad no one had said Mrs. since she’d been there.

“Sorry to interrupt you. Could you follow me to the registration area downstairs? I need you to fill out some paperwork for your daughter Payton. I promise the process doesn’t take very long, so you’ll be back in no time.”

Skye cleared her throat, “Yes, sure.”

When they reached the registration desk a few minutes later, the woman told Skye to have a seat. She then passed her a clipboard along with some several pieces of paper.

“I need you to fill these out and attach your insurance card along with your driver’s license so I can make a copy.”

Skye’s eyes filled with tears once again as she lowered her head. “Umm…I don’t have any insurance.”

The woman looked at her and sat back in her chair.

“Could you just bill me?” Skye questioned.

The woman took a deep breath. “We could, but the hospital doesn’t like to take that route. What about her father? Could we possibly bill his insurance company?”

“No,” was all Skye could mutter.

Obviously feeling sorry for her, the woman tapped Skye on her hand. “I understand, I have a daughter, too.”

Tears fell on the paperwork as Skye filled it out.

“Don’t worry. Just make sure you provide us with a current address so the bill doesn’t come back undeliverable,” the woman said with a warm tone.

Skye was not only embarrassed, but it felt like she’d failed her kids.

I can deal with being broke, but when it comes to my children’s health and well being it’s a different story. I know what I have to do, my kids deserve better, she thought.

****

After sitting in the waiting room for what seemed like forever, Skye could feel her body temperature increase when she saw Cruze walking toward her direction. He’d obviously gotten her whereabouts in the hospital from the information desk downstairs. The closer he got, the more heated she became. Skye turned her head and rolled her eyes.

When Cruze rushed over and sat down beside her, he moved Skye’s hair back and examined the bandages on her forehead like he was the doctor. He then put his hand on her leg. She instantly pushed him away.

“I rushed right over when I got your message. Are you okay? Is Payton still in surgery?” he inquired.

Skye gave him a crazy look, right before going off. “You rushed right over, huh? If you would’ve rushed your ass home last night none of this shit would be happening right now.”

“Baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize how tired I was after unloading all those cars last night. The fact that we had just got back from the trip to Miami didn’t help either. I sat down on the couch in the back room at work and ended up falling asleep. I didn’t even realize the battery on my phone had died either. I would still be there if my boss hadn’t come in and woke me up,” Cruze said, yawning.

Skye’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe he was lying right in front of her face. “You’re such a damn liar!” she yelled. Everyone in the waiting area looked at her even though she could care less. “I went by your so-called job. You’ve never worked there!”

Cruze looked around to see who might’ve been enjoying the shouting match. “Can you please lower your voice?” he pleaded.

“Absolutely not! Are you cheating on me, Cruze?”

“No baby, I would never do that to you.”

“Well, where the fuck were you?”

“Can we discuss this later? This isn’t the place or the time,” Cruze said. The truth was he’d definitely fallen asleep working, but it was in his car, not at a car lot. He knew, however, Skye couldn’t handle the truth right now.

“You better tell me some…” Skye stopped talking when she saw Dr. Matthews approach them.

“Ms. Washington, Payton’s surgery went well, but I still want to monitor her progress over the next day or so. She’s in recovery right now. You should be able to see her in about forty minutes. You’ll need to limit any activity that might put pressure on the injured area. Also, she’s going to need long-term follow up care. This is necessary to observe her recuperation and growth.”

Skye put her hands over her mouth. She was so grateful Payton was going to be okay. “Thank you so much, Dr. Mathews. You’ve displayed such a caring attitude. I apologize for being so disruptive earlier,” Skye said, wiping a tear from her face.

“You’re welcome, Ms. Washington, and I completely understand. I’ll come check in on her again before I finish my shift.”

When he walked off, Cruze grabbed Skye’s hand.

“Baby, you can relax now, the doc said she’s going to be fine.”

Skye immediately pulled away and looked at him. “I’m still waiting for you to tell me what the fuck is going on.”

Cruze lowered his head. He could see the disappointment in her eyes. He had to tell her something. “Look, I had to step up and make some decisions on my own that will help all of us in the long run. I lied about the job because I know that’s the type of dude you want me to be, but I’m just not the 9 to 5 type.”

“What type of decision are you talking about, Cruze?”

“I can’t tell you that right now but just trust me,” he replied.

Skye’s eyes became two sizes bigger. She couldn’t believe he lied to her the entire time and now he refused to tell her the truth. They both promised they would always be honest with one another and Cruze had betrayed that trust.

“Well, since you were out making decisions all fucking night without considering me, I’m making one without considering you!”

Cruze looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. “What do you mean by that?”

“I’m moving back to Miami to take care of my husband!”