Black Girl Magic

Chapter 13

As soon as she left, I staggered towards Armand and collapsed on the ground next to him. I reached for his shoulders and pulled his torso and head into my lap. I saw he was still breathing faintly, and I damn near started crying in relief. My throat felt like someone had stuck an iron hot poker down it. My lungs felt like they were going to collapse, but I couldn't think of anything but try to stop the blood flow from Armand's head wound. He had bruises and cuts all over his body. The thought that a mother could do this to her child disgusted me.

He stirred slightly and then opened his eyes and looked dead at me. He said in a faint whisper, "I'm so glad that you are ok." I said in a raspy voice, "Don't worry about me, fool, and worry about yourself." He said, "Thank you for that, by the way." I said, "You're welcome."

I heard the pounding of feet coming into the backyard when I heard Stella's voice shout out, "Kaveri!" I tried to call out, but I couldn't yell without almost passing out from the pain. Terrance reached us first and slid onto the ground, checking me over for injuries and pulling Armand from my lap. Stella reached us next, threw herself on me in a giant hug, and said, "Oh my god, what happened to you guys?"

Armand said weakly, "Dear old mom decided to come in and give me a birthday present. I hated it." Terrance said, "Damn, she did this to her own son?" He said, "She's not much of a parent." Stella said, "You don't say?" I said, "Stella gets my phone and call my aunt Kia and have her wake grandma and the others, tell them we need them here ASAP. She nodded and got up, sprinting into the house, searching for my phone. Daniel and another of Armand's friends had run up, and Terrance said, "You two help get Armand in the house; I have Kaveri. We need to get them into a bed, someplace to rest, and try to clean up some of these wounds.

Daniel said, "Shouldn't we call an ambulance?" I said, "There's no way we could be able to explain this shit. Stella's calling my grandmother and his grandfather; we will be all right. We need someplace to rest right now."

Terrance stood, scooped me into his arms, and started carrying me to the house. I saw Daniel and the other guy grab one of Armand's arms, slinging it over his shoulder, and follow us.

Daniel gave instructions, and soon Armand and I were lying on a queen-sized bed together while our friends fussed over us and treated our wounds. Stella brought me a mug of tea to ease the pain in my throat. About twenty minutes later, my Aunt Kia burst through the bedroom doors, came over and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. She whispered, "Thank god you're ok."

In the hallway, I heard the deep voice of Mr. Saint-Claire saying, "Get the hell out of my way." Seconds later, Mr. Saint-Claire and my grandmother burst into the room, each running to our sides.

Mr. Saint-Claire said, "Armand, son, are you ok?" He said, "I'm fine, grandpa, just dear old mom not too happy with your parenting style." Mr. Saint-Claire inhaled sharply and said, "Naamah was here?" He nodded weakly before wincing in pain. Grandmother said, "Let's get these kids back to my place, and then we can interrogate them." He nodded, turned back to our friends, and said, "Can you please help us get them to the car please?"

They immediately jumped into action, Terrance picking me up again and carrying me. Daniel and the other guy grabbed Armand again and pulled him out. Stella grabbed our purses and walked with Grandmother. I heard Grandma say, "You two come to my house too. I'm about to call Harper, and she'll tell your parents that you guys were staying at my house to be safe instead of driving all that way sleepy. I'll leave out the drugs and alcohol." Stella blushed but nodded.

Armand and I were helped into Aunt Kia's car in the back with a grandmother sitting with us. Kia had driven grandma, and they picked up Mr. Saint-Claire on the way. Terrance and Stella followed us to the house. Once inside, grandmother directed us to one of the bigger bedrooms, and we both were placed in the huge king-sized bed.