August's Empathy

Same Ride

Augusts Empathy

Nikki held her tissue up to her eyes once again. She briskly walked away to keep Monique from seeing her cry again. The dull sky comforted her as she looked out of the window. Nurses ran around while taking care of the hectic activity. Every two seconds, someone was being pushed through the doors on a gurney.

Monique's heart ached when she seen a weak mother following behind the nurses who had her small child on a gurney. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up then stretched in the seat. Nikki had been very emotional and it was easy to understand why. She stripped and lived in a small apartment with no other financial support. Who was going to help her raise her child? Although Monique knew money wasn't the only problem, Nikki was also in love with him.

She made her mistakes in the past but she had a big heart. Monique knew Debarge loved her as well but it just wasn't how Nikki wanted him to. Their situation was damn near similar to the one she had with August, minus the pregnancy. Debarge's head was up Bianca's ass and August was stuck on Camry. She began to wonder if that was the reason she couldn't get in touch with him.

"How are you?" An older man stuck his hand out towards her. She looked up at him with a small smile on her face. "Officer Giordano." He introduced himself.

"Monique Matthews."

"So, Ms. Matthews, I've been informed that you are my witness. That is not something that I would want to personally witness. A friend of mine was killed by bad guys before which motivates me to find just who did this to yours."

Monique smiled. He was a smooth talker and he was very handsome. He was also up to no good and she knew that. "Sure. Do I need to tell my story again?"

"If you don't mind." He nodded his head. As she recalled the events, Mr. Giordano rubbed her knee for assurance and patted her back. He scribbled everything down in his small notepad. Monique reread it once he was done to make sure they left nothing out. She wanted him to know everything from where Debarge sat the money down then a muscular masked man appeared with a knife in his hands stabbing every body part he could reach.

After he left, Nikki had calmed down and was able to hold a conversation. "Are you OK?" she asked.

"Yes, I know Debarge will pull through. That's my brother. He's strong."

Nikki's smile became a frown as she looked behind Monique's head. Monique slowly turned around to see August speaking to a nurse with Camry beside him. She snaked her arm around him as the nurse spoke which fired Monique up but she kept her composure then sighed.

"What's up? How y'all feeling?" August questioned as he approached the two. Camry smiled at Nikki. Monique bit her lip while directing her attention to the television mounted in the corner of the room. Nikki proceeded to tell August the condition Debarge was in and what she knew of the story.

"Monique you were there?"
Monique stood up then excused herself. She couldn't sit there and pretend. The humid air smacked her in the face as she walked through the sliding doors. Holding the bridge of her nose, she began to cry hard.

"Man, what's going on? Why are you so emotional?" August gently grabbed her arm while leading her over to his car. Monique followed suit because she didn't know if she wanted the people in their business. A few cigarette smokers enjoying their stick watched them as they hopped into the vehicle.

Monique brushed her hair away from her face. "Because Debarge is in critical condition and you still find a way to make it about you. You bought her here knowing that I was here and that we have had our issues. Damn, can you at least give me time before you start rubbing it all in my face?"

"You tripping, you think I bought her here to make you mad. Camry was on my doorstep when I got home last night saying that her and Jay got into it. I let her come in because I wasn't in the mood to argue. When I got the news from Play, she was there and she wanted to come so she could at least apologize to Debarge for how she treated him when he didn't have shit to his name."

"Wait, so you ignored my calls because she was with you?"

August stared at Monique. He had just went through all of that and that was the only thing she got out of it.
"She slept on the couch. I told Camry I couldn't go there with her again because I needed to focus on me. My life not about just you and her drama. I got shit on my chest too, did you forget that I went missing? My boy would've never got stabbed if I would've just listened."

"What's on your chest?"

August ran his hand over his face. His eyes got glassy and Monique sat up. She stared at him slowly inching her hand towards his. Her heart fluttered once he grabbed hers quickly and squeezed it. Then, her heart dropped once he said,

"Jorven was released from jail. He had me set up so now the Feds on my ass which is why I been having other people run for me. The day I decide to do a run for myself that bitch Gia was on some funny shit and cuffed me up. Jorven was all on some revenge type stuff but her dad, who's an officer, came in and stopped their fun... But he left me with a proposition. Play been M.I.A because he work with 12 and he's been undercover the entire time."

Monet watched Play get dressed while smoking a blunt. He tossed her money for the hotel room and a little to use on the side before laying a kiss on her forehead. Once he exited the room, she put the blunt out then went to shower.

As she showered she thought of how depressed she had been lately. Play was living a lie the entire time. He had opened up to her about the real him which is how they ended in their situation. His wife, the Asian girl, was also his baby's mother and she was also a CEO of a nail polish company. They had recently moved back into town because Play was closing a case with a big time drug dealer and was soon to do a bust.

Not to mention he was an undercover cop.

Monet couldn't wrap her head around all of it. He had been in her life way too long. When he broke the news, she had so many questions like why he chose her, who was he after, would they still be together when the case was over. She was desperate feeling the need to be loved and to love. Play didn't really give her answers but he did give her money to keep their secret and to stay away from his home.

Monet could respect that as long as he made her feel like he loved her more than he loved his wife and the small family they had made. Although she agreed to stay far away from his home, she found herself always sitting near and watching him come and go. They went places, kissed in public, and played with their child if the weather wasn't too cold. Their Christmas lights were still up but his wife watched him one day as he took them down, and Monet watched too.

His wife, Ae-Cha, was beautiful. Play didn't call her by her real name. To him, she was known as Boo or Mimi. Monet constantly compared herself to Mimi who stayed in the gym they had in their home and stayed going to the salon. She wanted to strike up a conversation bad and today was her chance.

Mimi went to the nail salon every two weeks and now it was their time to meet.