Page 123 of Certified to Handle You
That was all it took for him to get irritated, and I could see it in his face before he even said anything else. “Man, that don’t make no sense. We all family, so what you mean two people?”
Security started comin’ over slow, and I shifted my weight where I stood, watchin’ it play out without sayin’ nothin’.
“Kay’Lo, please,” Toni begged, grabbin’ him. “Just calm down.”
Pluto came up beside them, rubbin’ her stomach while she spoke softer. “We just wanna see her, that’s all.”
The lady looked between all of us, then repeated herself. “Only two at a time.”
Kay’Lo stared at her for a second like he wanted to keep goin’, but Toni pulled on him again, and eventually he exhaled and nodded his head.
“A’ight,” he muttered. “Let’s go.”
After him and Toni got the visitor’s pass, they went back, and the rest of us stayed in the lobby.
Pressure leaned back against the wall with his arms folded, watchin’ everything around him without really lookin’ at nobody. Pluto took a seat beside him, rubbin’ his arm to calm him down.
I sat down and leaned forward with my elbows on my thighs and my hands locked together while I stared at the floor for a second. I ain’t like bein’ back in this city, and I damn sure ain’t like the reason we was here.
Time moved slow after that. Every minute felt longer as hell, and ain’t nobody say much while we waited. I looked up every now and then, watchin’ people walk past, nurses movin’, doors openin’ and closin’, but none of that shit mattered.
I was just waitin’ on ‘Lo and Toni to come back out.
Eventually, I saw them walkin’ back toward us, and I could tell what it was before they even said somethin’. Toni had tears runnin’ down her face, and Kay’Lo looked pissed in a way that told me he was holdin’ that shit in.
Pluto stood up quick, her hand still on her stomach. “Is she okay?”
Toni wiped at her face and nodded. “Yeah… she okay. The bullet hit the back of her shoulder and went straight through. It missed her heart by just a lil’.”
“What?” Pluto shouted.
Toni took a breath and tried to calm herself. “They had to give her blood, and she on medication right now, so she in and out, but she gon’ be alright.”
I let that sit for a second, feelin’ that tension ease up just a just, but not enough to relax.
Pressure spoke next. “She say who did it?”
Toni shook her head, then glanced at Kay’Lo before lookin’ back at us. “No… she ain’t give no names. She just said they took some of the money ‘Lo gave her. They got into her safe.”
Me and Pressure both reacted without sayin’ nothin’, but I knew my face said enough.
Not only did somebody shoot her…They robbed her, and that money came from my muthafuckin’ cousin.
I leaned back in my seat and ran my hand over my face slow, then dropped it while I looked over at Pressure. I ain’t say nothin’, but I already knew what time it was.
Whoever did that shit ain’t just cross Sha’Nelle…
They crossed all of us.
A day and a half went by and we was still at the hospital. Pluto and Pressure had been up to see Sha’Nelle, and I just stayed in the lobby tryna keep my head where it needed to be.
It wasn’t that I ain’t wanna see ‘Nelle. I just wasn’t about to walk in there while her mama was sittin’ up by her bed, or while Toni and Pluto was goin’ back and forth in and out, checkin’ on her every chance they got. That wasn’t my place right now, and I knew better than to step on that, so I stayed where I was at and let them have that time.
It ain’t mean I wasn’t thinkin’ about it though.
Every time somebody came back through them doors, I looked up without even meanin’ to, watchin’ they face, readin’ they body, tryna see what kind of update they was comin’ with. It got to a point where I ain’t even ask no questions no more. I just listened and put shit together in my head.
From what I was hearin’, she was doin’ better than what everybody expected. The bullet went through her shoulder and missed everything important, and that alone was enough to keep shit from goin’ left the way it could’ve.
