Twisted Thursday Presents: Jaded, Part 5 (By Saria Monette)

 

Jade opened her eyes to a blur of unfamiliar surroundings and bright fluorescent lights above her head. Her breathing was swift and heavy and she had a throbbing pain all over. She nearly panicked before Melvin, Elise and Richard came into focus at her bedside.

“What’s going on?” Jade asked through tears. “Where am I?”

“Baby, you’re in the hospital,” Melvin answered, wishing he could cradle Jade in his arms and gently rock her pain away. “You were in a car accident. We got here as soon as we could.”

“But you were just holding me. We were just at the house crying together on the floor. You were just telling me everything would be okay.” Jade’s panic returned in full force, infused with confusion.

“You were heavily sedated and must have been having a bad dream. You’ve been kicking, fighting and crying in your sleep for the past 20 minutes,” Elise said, brushing Jade’s hair back with her hand.

“How bad was it? The accident?” Jade questioned.

“You’ll be fine … you just fractured a rib and broke your left arm,” Melvin answered.

“The car, on the other hand, is probably on it’s way to Audi heaven,” Elise said, hoping a little humor would ease Jade’s pain even slightly.

“Oh, my God, what did I do? Anybody else hurt?”

“No, they said it looked like maybe a hit and run. But Jade, the paramedics said you kept screaming something about a rape and someone coming after you. Did somebody hurt you, baby? Please, tell me if someone hurt you,” Melvin urged as he rubbed Jade’s shoulder.

Things slowly began to come to Jade’s memory. I was trying to get to Melvin. Rico hurt me and I was trying to get to Melvin. I never made it to Melvin.

Jade broke into a loud sob that crescendoed into a frantic scream and caused Melvin, Elise and Richard to jump. The three quickly regained their composure, but stood confused — all except Elise. She was the only one who knew where Jade had been, and had an idea of what may have happened to her. I told her to leave him alone. Now look what he’s done, Elise thought. The pain she felt for her friend was slowly morphing into rage.

Melvin tried to calm Jade — alternating between kissing her forehead, rubbing her shoulders, rubbing her head, squeezing her hand. What in the world could have happened that was so traumatic? The mystery was frustrating him.

After Jade’s screams faded into a silent cry, Melvin quizzed again, “Baby girl, you’ve gotta tell me what happened. Were you raped?”

“Yes … I …” Jade began, still crying uncontrollably. “Baby, it hurts so much … I’m so sorry …”

“Sorry for what? It’s not your fault,” a tearful Melvin said, the anger building with each passing second. “Do you know the person who did this to you, Jade?”

Jade wept louder. She didn’t know what was hurting her more – her bruised and broken body, Rico’s betrayal, or seeing the pain on her fiance’s face. It was all too much to handle. How can I tell him I was raped by someone I know; someone I thought loved me?

Elise paced back and forth across the room – from the door to the window. She’d made Richard sit down; his futile attempts at comforting her just made her that much more frustrated and uncomfortable. You’ve gotta tell him. Just tell him, Jade, Elise thought, attempting to mentally persuade her friend.

“Jade, please tell me. Just tell me who did this to you! Tell me! Was it Rico?” Melvin pushed, unaware he was now yelling.

A passing nurse heard the commotion and barged into Jade’s room.

“What seems to be the problem here?” the nurse asked, walking over to Jade’s side.

No one answered. Elise continued to pace and bite her bottom lip. Melvin wiped his tears with the palms of both hands before standing eerily still at the foot of the bed and staring at Jade.

“She is under lots of stress as it is right now,” the pale, petite nurse continued as she straightened Jade’s bed covers. “She doesn’t need the yelling. It must stop or I will have to ask you all to leave.”

“Has she had a rape kit done?” a calmer Melvin asked the nurse.

“Not that I’m aware of, sir. She has to give her consent before an exam can be performed.”

“Tell her you want them to perform a rape exam, Jade,” Melvin said, his voice deep and cold.

“No, Melvin, I don’t want to go through that.” Jade’s voice cracked as she tried to force herself to stop crying.

“So, you know who did this and you’re protecting him? Please, tell me that is not what you’re doing, Jade. Tell me you just …”

Elise couldn’t take the charade anymore and before she knew it she was yelling, too. “Just tell him, Jade. Tell him the bastard is crazy. Tell him it was Rico who hurt you! Tell him it was Rico who was after you! Can’t you see how much he’s hurting, Jade? Just tell him …”

The nurse tried to talk over Elise to allay the situation. Unsuccessful, she gave up and dismissed herself from the room.

Jade was stunned by Elise’s outburst. How could she?

“Will somebody please tell me who Rico is? Please!” Melvin yelled. “Just tell me who he is and why would he hurt …” Melvin, suddenly overcome by his emotions, couldn’t finish his sentence. He flopped down onto the end of the bed and let the tears flow freely down his cheeks. Silence fell upon the room, interrupted only by the occasional sniffle.

***

 

The receptionist looked up from the book she was reading behind the desk in the emergency room lobby. A tall man who appeared homeless stood before her. He looked like he’d been walking for miles. His clothes were tattered and soaked with sweat.

“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked, seemingly disgusted and slightly annoyed.

“I’m looking for a patient. She was brought in a few hours ago. She was in a car accident.”

“We don’t usually do visitation at this hour. You family?”

“Yes … she’s my sister,” the man replied after a short pause.

“What’s your sister’s name, sir?”
“Jade … Jade Marie Jones.”

 

The receptionist keyed the name into her computer.

“Says she’s still in emergency. They haven’t put her into a permanent room yet. Let me call and find out exactly where she is,” the receptionist told the man.

She picked up the phone and dialed three digits. The man was growing anxious. Before long the receptionist had the information she needed. She jotted the room number down on a sticky note and handed it to the man.

“Just go down the hall to the left and follow the signs to …” The man didn’t wait for her to finish giving him directions.

***

 

Elise sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair, staring out the room window. Richard had fallen asleep in the chair in the far corner. Jade still lay in shock, and Melvin had finally calmed himself enough to speak again.

“Ok, I’m gonna ask one more time, and somebody better tell me, who the hell is Rico?”

Before the words could roll completely off his tongue the door to Jade’s room swung open.

Melvin sprang into a stand. Elise froze with her mouth gaping, and Jade shuddered in fear, wishing the bed would swallow her.

The man standing in the doorway spoke.

“I am … I’m Rico.”

Twisted Thursdays Presents: Jaded, Part 1 (By Saria Monette)

Editors note: This is the first installment of a 10-part urban tale. We call it a “twisted” novella because the writers take turns writing each chapter and no one knows exactly how the story is going to end — not even the authors. It was co-written by Saria Monette and Zanetta Rivers-Randolph. Tune in each Thursday for a new installment. Hope you enjoy!

Jade snuggled in closer to Rico until she could feel the warmth of his breath on the nape of her neck. She firmly pressed her backside into his flaccid manhood. No matter how close she got to him, she longed to be closer. Jade felt so safe here, lying in this bed, wrapped tightly in his strong-yet-gentle arms. The intimacy they shared was incomparable.

Intimacy. Not sex – that was hit or miss. In fact, the two rarely had sex. But Jade wasn’t complaining. They would often cuddle up for hours in his suburban Atlanta townhouse, watching TV or talking or saying nothing at all. And this early summer evening was no different. The two had been lying in silence just listening to the rhythm of each other’s hearts for nearly an hour. Well, at least Rico was still listening. Jade’s tranquility was suddenly interrupted when her mind began to do somersaults. She started to squirm as the reality set in.

“You gotta make a choice,” Rico said finally, the bass in his voice slicing through the silence like a locomotive. He knew what Jade’s squirming was all about.

“What if I don’t want to?” Jade asked rhetorically. “You make it seem like this should be easy for me.”

“Jay, baby, you have to.”

Jade knew he was right. No matter how safe or how good she felt in his arms, she couldn’t go on like this — lying to herself, to Rico, and certainly not to Melvin, the man she was to marry in a little less than a month.

Why does life have to be SO complicated, she thought. Jade loved Melvin. He had been her on-again, off-again boyfriend since high school. And she knew Melvin loved her. He had never hesitated to tell her or show her just how much he did. But there was something about Rico, who she met as her personal trainer a few years back. They dated briefly, when she and Melvin were in an off period. She knew Rico loved her, too, but she wasn’t sure what to make of her feelings for him. He was like her forbidden fruit. And her lust was the serpent driving her back to his garden. Back to that verboten tree.

Rico and Melvin were as different as night and day. Rico was tall with the physique of a football player and skin the color of honey. Despite his pretty-boy look he was still rough around the edges. His usual attire consisted of a T-shirt and jeans. Melvin was of average height and weight — in shape and slightly cut, but not overly muscular. He had coffee brown skin and kept his head bald by choice; he hadn’t yet suffered the receding hairline demise of many men. He looked like he’d fit right in as a model in the men’s apparel section of the JC Penney catalog. But their differences went beyond the physical. Rico was a motorcycle-riding adventurer who lived for a challenge. He was bold, daring and protective. Melvin was laid-back, gentle and lived to please Jade. He was brilliant – almost nerdy – which Jade found to be quite sexy. He was a prosecutor and a borderline workaholic, but he had always managed to make up for the lost time with Jade.

Jade was simply torn — between two worlds, two men. If there were a way to fuse Melvin and Rico together, Jade would do it. But sadly, she knew that was impossible.

“Jay.” Rico shook Jade’s shoulder to get her attention. “You gonna get your phone?”

Jade’s mind had wandered so far away she’d almost forgotten where she was and hadn’t heard her cell phone ring. She picked it up two seconds too late. Two missed calls. Six text messages. All from Melvin and Elise, Jade’s best friend.

“Oh shoot,” Jade said. “I’m supposed be meeting Mel and Elise and her husband at six.”

It was 6:30. Jade’s cell rang again. “Hey, Lissy pooh,” Jade sang into the phone.

“Don’t ‘Lissy pooh’ me, girl! Do you know what time it is?”

“Yeah. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Jade lied, knowing it would take her at least thirty to get Elise’s house. ”Got caught up with a client.”

“Do I look like BooBoo the Fool to you? You ain’t with nobody’s client.”

Jade never could get anything past Elise. She knew everything before Jade could tell her. That may be how they came to be best friends. That was a poor lie anyway, considering Jade had already told Elise she’d just finished a redecorating project for a law office and she’d have no other interior design projects or client meetings until the middle of next week.

“Tell Rico you’ll spoon with him later and bring your butt on. We are all hungry and waiting on you. Plus, I’m all out of lies to tell Melvin.”

“Okay, okay. I said I’m on my way, hussy.” Jade rushed to throw on her skirt and pumps; she could put her blouse on over her cami, and straighten her hair in car. I can call Mel on the way, she thought. Rico got up to walk — or run — Jade to the door.

“Sorry to rush off like this, Rico,” Jade said, planting a quick kiss on his cheek.

“When are you gonna do what you have to do?” he asked as she yanked her car door open.

The question unnerved her. She didn’t like to be reminded of her complex reality. “I’ll call you later,” she called out, purposely avoiding his query. Then she sped off.