Wicked Girl (THE FIRE Book 1) Read online

  “I remember that very well ma’am…doctor. I know that very well. Yes.”

  In my head, I saw myself slapping Eva if we found that Karen had left. I also pulled her close and punched her three times before she dropped on the floor bleeding and unconscious.

  I gazed at her but she continuously avoided colliding my eyes with hers.

  “Oh, Jesus!” Eva screamed when we reached my office. She looked at me like a slave expecting a slap on the face from her master.

  I turned and marched to her. She drifted backward, her eyes bulging like those of a frog. “I need her here. You hear? I mean now.”

  She dashed out.

  I loosened up when I noticed my nails were biting into my palms.

  Eva’s high heels sang like a fast forwarded song as she ran up the hallway. Some group of nurses and interns laughed at her. One said, “The monster will end your life one day, Eva. Tell her to back off.” It was a young man.

  I swiftly jumped to the door, opened, but there was no one in the hallway. Only one old lady shoved a squeaky trolley with unappealing wrapped food. The ridiculers had disappeared to the different offices. They were lucky. Had I found them then, their internship would have been a horrific nightmare and they would have to forget about getting positive internship results. I would prioritize their cases and squash them like bugs.

  Eva had to find Karen before she drove off; if not, she would suffer greatly – all her life in the clinic would be a nightmare. How could she dare lose Karen when I spent months and a lot of money searching for her? Karen was the only bridge to my lost paradise – my lost love. Just like at college, I needed her to push boundaries with me. With her help, I knew I would get my man back. My love for Elijah was as fresh as ever. And I couldn’t relax knowing he was in some fool’s hands. At least, if he was single then I wouldn’t be restless. I would only be troubled by menopause drawing close like lightning. Elijah had to put a baby in me before I was deprived of life’s greatest gift and joy. Soon after assuring the pregnancy then he would have to marry me when the baby is about two months old inside me.

  I peeped outside again. At the end of the concourse, Eva came with Karen. She must have found her in the parking lot for she panted heavily. If it wasn’t snowy and chilly, she would have been dripping wet.

  I sighed. I almost jumped all over the place.

  12:52 PM

  Karen and I hugged for a long time without uttering a word. Only tears embarrassed me but I quickly wiped them away before Eva saw them.

  She didn’t see them because she was opening the blinds. She had recalled I hated a dim office.

  Karen grabbed my shoulders and gazed at my eyes. “Pal. This is really you. Wow!” She sighed. “I thought London had consumed you forever.”

  “This is me, pal,” I said.

  Eva froze and peeped at us. She was surprised there were actual human beings who considered me as their friend. She even shook her head, unaware I saw her at the corner of my eye. Then she took some green file from the grey file cabinet and pretended she was going to attend to something. But she was going to gossip with the nurses and the other interns that she saw the “monster” laughing, joking and hugging somebody.

  “This is you, friend,” Karen said, hanging her coat on the hook between the door and file cabinet.

  I walked around my messy desk. “This is me, Karie.”

  Doctor Flores mushroomed at the door when Karen sat down. “Doc, you still remember the meeting?”

  “Oh, by the way. Okay, I will see. Thanks,” I said.

  He stared at my face for a second or two and left.

  “I won’t go to that stupid meeting. Friend, these people talk one and the same thing every day, but implementation zero.” I shook my head. “Besides I’ve pressing personal stuff that can’t be overtaken by some stupid, routine meeting.”

  “Who changed you, friend. You’re now more robust and militant. I don’t see the Carol I used to party with at college.” She laughed. “You know, even that small doctor you sent, oh my God, she literally begged me to come back with her to you. She said, ‘Please help me; Dr. Morgan will kill me. My life will be very difficult if you don’t go back with me.’ I went back thinking probably I’m here to see the wrong person. But it’s you, except you have decided to put on some weight, girl.”

  I smiled even though I didn’t like her joke about my weight. I never chose to grow fat. Elijah chose it on my behalf by giving me stress. Stress that made me consume a lot of junk food, daily, for years. Then I started taking wine. In no time, I was a heavy consumer of all alcoholic beverages. “Life changed me, Karen. Elijah, to be precise.”

  “Elijah Turner?”

  I nodded.

  “Are you serious? But you broke up with him at college.”

  I frowned. “Point of correction, pal. I never broke up with him. He broke up with me. I will never break up with that man. He is my soul mate.”

  “Friend, you’re killing yourself. I mean the man is happily married, with kids and stuff.”

  “Point of correction. Not happily.”

  “How would you know?”

  My posture became stiff. “Never mind, but I know,” I screamed. “Karen, please don’t defend that whore who stole my man. I renew my hatred for her every day!”

  Karen frowned. “Okay. Sorry. What do you mean you renew your hatred for her?”

  “I have hundreds of her photos. I stare at them every single day. If she thinks facial beauty and a great body and kids is enough to keep a man, then she is damn wrong. A plus size is about to take her man.”

  “Friend, I think you have taken this thing way too far. You’re a doctor yourself; you understand these things way more than me. Why don’t you get professional help? I –”

  “Are you kidding?”

  “I’m not. I’m telling you, you need someone who will help you move on.”

  “I will never move on. Grace will move on.”

  Karen stared at me like I was a ghost. “Don’t give me that look. It’s ugly.” I giggled, winked one eye and squeezed her hand. “Friend, please don’t say the happily married thing again. Elijah can’t be happy with another woman. He needs Carol to be happy. And Carol needs Elijah to be happy. Please, don’t repeat the ‘happily married’ thing, please.”

  “Okay,” Karen said, looking shocked. “But you know why I said the ‘happily married’ thing. I’m their neighbor and I see their life. It’s beautiful. Grace is such a lucky girl.”

  “I know you are their neighbor.”

  “You know?”

  “Yeah. You remember that big dude, we used to call Fatty-Fatty at college.”

  “Yeah.”

  “He is the one who told me you live next to him. So I knew that if I got hold of you then I would know where he stays.”

  “Friend, don’t tell me you have been stalking me and Elijah.”

  “I won’t lie, friend. I have been and I have a plan now. And guess what – you are part of that plan.”

  Karen smiled and shook her head. “What do you drive?”

  “GMC Terrain”

  “Color?”

  “Brown.”

  “You… You are dangerous. I have seen that car on our street many, many times. Almost every day. It was you? Wow!”

  “At times I would see you too.”

  Karen slapped my left hand. “But you didn’t stop to say ‘Hello friend.’”

  I laughed. “I almost did many times, but I didn’t want to blow my cover. I mean you would even tell Elijah you saw me.”

  “Shoo! You love this guy.”

  “I really do, girl and I must get him back. That’s why I called you.”

  “How are you gonna get him back?”

  “Karen, only one way. The stupid wife should go.”

  She gazed at my eyes and drew her face closer to me. “As in die?” She whispered.

  I nodded. “Let’s finish off talking in my car.”

  1:23 PM

  Kare
n peeped at me when I locked us in the car. However, it was dim inside as the clouds were also thick and dark.

  “You want us to talk on the road?” Karen asked.

  “No, I just want to be sure no one comes in whilst we’re talking.”

  Some nurse waved at me before she got into her car but I didn’t wave back.

  Karen quickly turned towards me. “Don’t tell me that was deliberate.”

  “What?”

  “She waved, grinned at you, but you did nothing in return.”

  “Oh that. I developed blindness for interns and nurses a long time ago. It’s normal here.”

  “I don’t buy that. All doctors treat them like this?”

  “No, it’s my crew and me. The other doctors are males, so most of them treat them like eggs. But of course, who knows how deep their relationships with these girls go. I bet most of them go as far as the bed and abortions.”

  “Carol, I strongly disagree. Treating people nice does not mean you are sleeping with them. Come on. I’ll ask again, friend. What really happened to you? At college, you were this nice princess. I bet that’s why even Elijah found you irresistible.”

  “I told you, he is the one to blame for wrecking my life.”

  “How so? If I remember very well you are the one who broke up with Elijah when he disagreed you take a program that would take you almost a decade? Worse, you wanted to do it all in London. When he disapproved, you told him to back off because you had found a new man, a great man, a rich man.”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t mean that break up. And there was no great man. I just wanted to make him jealous. Honestly, I thought he would break down and beg me not to break up with him.”

  “You were damn wrong. Lots of girls who tried that strategy of making their men jealous are in their graves. The lucky ones are regretting like you. And just in case you didn’t know, men don’t or rarely change their decisions. When they say it’s over then it’s really over.”

  I sighed.

  “Okay, fake stories aside. Let’s say you later explained that the story about another man was a lie. But how would the relationship work since you eventually followed your London dream?”

  “Yeah, friend. I thought he would run after me like they do in movies. In my mind, I saw him running all over London looking for me.”

  Karen laughed. “Carol. How could you be so stupid? The men in the movies only exist in the movies. In real life, we are the ones who run after them. I hate to say it but we react to their decisions. It’s not the other way around. They never react to our call. This is a man’s world baby girl.”

  “But I thought Elijah loved me enough to understand that he couldn’t live without me.”

  “But friend, you have seen that that ain’t true. He surely is living without you. You’re the only one who failed to move on; you’re the only one still stuck.” She drew her head close to the dashboard. “Carol, you even have his photo on your dashboard.” She stared at me like I was insane.

  “Don’t give me that look. I’m not crazy.”

  “Girl, your mama didn’t teach you what a man is. These people have indescribable egos. No man will ever run after you. And now you are even different. Whatever London did to you. I’m sorry to say, but you are too rigid, robust, and militant to attract any man. I can’t even talk about Elijah.”

  I frowned at Karen.

  She smiled. “At least you’re not my boss; I will tell you like it is. You don’t scare me like the nurses and interns. Friend, you are too much. No sane man will marry you. You have to change. You have to soften up, I’m telling you.”

  I crossed my arms tightly over my chest. “If it wasn’t you talking I would slap the hell out of you. You are damn right. I would slap and punch you.”

  My cell phone screeched. Doctor Flores was calling. “They want me in the meeting. You know what? Let’s finish off what I called you for. Friend, my plan, and desire are simple. Either both Grace and I lose Elijah or Elijah loses Grace and the kids. That’s my plan. Whatever works will work. I’m tired of feeling defeated for so long. So I need you to help me, friend. I need you to poison Grace. I’ll give you every –”

  “Oh God! Me, Carol? You want me to go to jail and leave my kids living on the streets. How dare you?” She screamed. She gave me a frightening gaze and pushed the door.

  “Karen! Karen! Please. Karen!”

  She slammed the door and strode to her yellow Beetle. My car turned into a coffin for I was a corpse – until Doctor Flores called again. I smashed the cell phone against the dashboard.

  I gazed at Karen’s beetle speeding off. “You’re damn wrong if you think I can’t pull this off without you fool.”

  I switched on the radio. But they were playing Jessica’s Lonely Girl:

  I’m lonely, so lonely

  Oh-oh, yes I’m lonely

  People think I’m not lonely

  But the truth is I’m lonely and empty

  Misery is my cup of tea

  I’m lonely, so lonely

  It was a minor misunderstanding, but he left me

  I’m lonely, so lonely

  He -

  Jessica was mocking me too. I hit the off button.

  Four and a half years ago

  GRACE

  Thursday, August 2, 2012

  10:05 AM

  When the telephone squealed in the dining room I stopped breathing. My hand froze such that I almost dropped the watering jug on the flowers I was watering.

  I glanced at it and strode to the basement. I had no choice but to pretend I was busy with laundry.

  After some time, the call terminated. But the caller was determined to talk to someone. He didn’t want to leave a message; he redialed. The bedroom door clicked open and Elijah ran down the steps.

  “Hello,” Elijah said.

  “Speaking,” he continued.

  “August? Are you sure.”

  A warm wave cut through my body.

  “I’m so sorry; I didn’t know. I thought my wife sent the check. I think she forgot or something, but don’t worry; it will be paid today or tomorrow latest.”

  “Thanks.”

  For some reason, Elijah took some time replacing the receiver. In my head, I could see him eating the inside of his cheek, tapping the same cheek with the receiver, thinking what could have made me forget to pay the rent on time – it had never happened before.

  Finally, he replaced the receiver.

  “Babe. Are you in the laundry?” Elijah called.

  I didn’t respond.

  “Grace,” he shouted again.

  “Yes, I’m here,” I shouted.

  The wooden steps crackled as he walked down balancing with the wall. He sat on the sorting table, on the clothes I hadn’t loaded into our scratched washing machine. Then he put his feet on the washing machine spinning the laundry and spreading the sweet scents of the soap. “I hope you heard. That was Main House Properties. They were inquiring about August’s rent. What happened, sweety?”

  I balanced on the dryer and stretched up to the laundry soaps shelf and pulled one. “What happened? Where?” I put the soap in the sink.

  He frowned, gazing at me. “But you know I’m asking you about the rent. What happened? You forgot or what?”

  “I didn’t pay the rent and I didn’t forget.”

  “You skipped it deliberately?”

  I fixed my gaze into his eyes. “I didn’t skip anything. I just took my money and bought some clothes for me.”

  His eyes widened. He withdrew his feet from the washing machine and placed them gently on the scruffy mat in front of the washer and dryer. “Oh, ok, I see.” He said with a low tone.

  I almost exploded; I had hoped he would react as I expected. But he wasn’t moved. He didn’t even ask, “How could you?” screaming his lungs out. My chest tightened.

  “But I didn’t see any new clothes.”

  My temperature rose. I didn’t want him to speak about clothes, my God – but ab
out us, our life, our future. My gaze of fury was still in his eyes. I felt like a stupid idiot who took rent money to buy clothes, hoping to get through to Elijah, but obviously, I failed. I just wasted a thousand five dollars. I calculated he would scream at me about the rent thing and I would have an all-out heart to heart discussion with him about our life, our future, our finances, our kids and let it boil down to him getting a real job and forgetting about his pathetic company.

  “Where are your new clothes? I didn’t see them in the closet.”

  I snorted twice. Clothes again! “They will be delivered tomorrow!” I screamed.

  “Oh, you ordered online.”

  I didn’t respond.

  He fixed his eyes on mine. “Was Mila with you when you made the order?”

  “Please, don’t drag Mila into this,” I screamed.

  “I didn’t drag anybody – you dragged her into our life. She is the one who runs my family now.” He jumped off the table. “Give me a straight answer. Was she there when you placed the order? Yes or No!” he screamed as the dryer’s buzzer went off. I almost ran. I thought a slap had landed on my face.

  My eyes bulged. “Yes, but –”

  “That’s enough.” He drew close like he wanted to kiss me. Or knock me off with his head. My stomach turned as I watched his blazing eyes. I drifted back since I knew a kiss was the last thing on his mind.

  “Grace. If you keep messing with my heart, it will eject you. I will leave you. I will lose interest in you. Just in case your dad never taught you – once a man loses interest there is nothing you can do to make him regain it. Don’t be a fool. You will lose what you have in return for nothing. Mila is a confused, stupid whore. There is nothing good you will ever get from her. At best, you will end up a regretting whore like her.”

  I stared at him blankly. I was terrified. It was the first time he reminded my mind that he did have an option to leave me. It surely hadn’t clicked before. “Don’t push the blame to me, to Mila. You are the one who must get a job.”

  “I must get a job because our boss Mila has said it.” He shook his head. “Grace, all the past years, you were contented with our life, but as soon as you started working and got close to that fool, you doubted me, us, our life, everything. You gave the Devil a red carpet into our life.”