Chapter Fifteen
A long conversation with Jael left Destiny feeling more torn and broken than she did before. On other occasions when she had experienced heartbreak; her friends would rally around her to comfort her. They would come to her house with a takeaway and an obscene number of snacks and insult the guy in question for hours on end. They would assure her that she deserved better, and they would be by her side every step of the way, but this was different because it was Andre. Destiny had relayed everything that happened between her and Andre that night to Jael and Chioma. Jael was evidently shocked about how Andre violently broke the drawer, but she did not condemn him, and Destiny knew Jael did not blame him for his actions. Everyone blamed her.
Her dirty laundry had been aired out and she could no longer run away from all the wrongs she had done to Andre. Her friends were his friends and her family loved him dearly, so it essentially left Destiny with no one completely on her side. Jael told her she was there for her but admitted she was happy they had finally let go of each other. She said she wanted Andre to be happy and get the healing he deserved, and she wanted Destiny to fully face the truth and consequences of her actions and learn from it. Destiny knew that was a fair and honest conclusion, but she still felt hurt at the painful fact everyone knew she was at fault. She remembered Payton's bitter words when they had the argument – labelling her judgmental and wicked and that hurt more. Destiny and Payton were not on good terms which meant part of her support system was already broken but the sad part of it all was that even if she did reach out to Payton, she would be on Andre's side just like everyone else.
Destiny was tired of crying. It was even harder when she had to suppress her emotions in order to carry out her motherly duties with Mia. No one understood how she felt. Yes, she had done a lot of wrong, but she still loved Andre. He was one of her best friends and someone she shared a lot of intimacy with and now all of that had come to a timely end. Every precious moment they shared had come down to absolutely nothing, everything was shattered and not even their friendship remained in the ruins. It was all over. She found herself frequently hovering over Andre's number in her phone and that made her feel more stupid. There was nothing to say. The thought of calling him to pour out her heart made her sick because he could very well be with Kayla and he clearly ran out of compassion to give.
She stuck her feet into her fluffy slides and carefully tied the white ribbon around the black box she needed to give her client. Praise picked up Mia in the morning and took her back to their parents' house to give her some breathing space and time to catch up on work. She put up a post on her business Instagram account to announce that she would not be taking orders for a little while. She did not know how long her break was going to be, but she knew she needed to get herself together and not be overwhelmed by responsibilities. Regardless, she still had to fulfil the orders people placed before her announcement. She hung her keyring on her finger and made her way out of the door. She met a client down the road from her apartment complex so she could give them their order. For safety reasons, she did not allow people to come to her house but if they chose the collection option as opposed to delivery then she would arrange to meet them nearby.
"Thank you so much hun, I can't wait to install it." Her client gave her a wide smile, revealing her gap tooth and adorable braces.
"No problem, doll. Don't forget to tag me on insta when you do, @theehairheaven!" it was the small things that reminded destiny she had so much to be grateful for. So many people had hair businesses and she did not even consider herself to be the best, but she never lacked clientele. She did not put in as much effort with her business as she could have because it was not her life passion, but it still paid off.
Destiny scolded herself for moping around because of Andre as ultimately, she knew it was for the best that they finally separated. That moment was always going to come but she just didn't anticipate feeling so defeated by it and like an umbilical cord had been prematurely snatched from her intestines.
Back inside her building, she pressed the button in the lift to take her to the seventh floor instead of her own floor, so she could visit Chioma. Chioma was spending the night at her boyfriend, Jaylen's flat so Destiny promised to go and see her at some point during the day. As she knocked on the walnut wood door, she realised how convenient it was to have Chioma so close to her.
"Hey boo!" Chioma blew out a huge bubble with her chewing gum and it popped loudly. She led the way into the living room, wearing an oversized Chrome Hearts t-shirt that barely covered her bum and exposed her hot pink thong underneath. It always astounded Destiny just how confident Chioma was. She did not care what anyone thought about her and wished Destiny wished she could adopt that attitude herself.
Chioma sat on the carpeted floor and stretched her legs out in front of her. Her light grey Ugg Fluff Yeah slippers cupped her feet cosily and Destiny found her eyes drawn to the new tattoo around Chioma's ankle. She had her birth year and her sister, Amaka's birth year illustrated around her ankle in big black gothic writing. Her Macbook Pro, documents and a big mood board poster surrounded her. She sang along to Aura – Mariah The Scientist then turned the speakers down to talk to Destiny properly.
"Are you excited for the shoot then?" Destiny questioned her friend, peaking at the plans Chioma had set out so far for the Liqueur salon photo shoot.
"Definitely." She nodded. "This is my baby but there is so much stress. We still haven't found a venue for the shoot. Amaka wants to use a studio that's already set up, but I really want to go all out, you know. This is a big deal and I want the venue to be perfect. This shoot has to be unique and show that we ain't playing with Liqueur."
"I hear you; the shoot needs to stand out. But I do understand why Amaka wants to avoid unnecessary complications."
"I get that too but I'm not gonna settle for less and if Amaka shouts at me one more time then I'm gonna bang her."
"Both of you are mad!" Destiny chuckled, knowing how volatile Chioma's disagreements with her sister could be.
"Anyway... enough about me. How are you?" Chioma pulled out Jaylen's shisha pipe from the storage and arranged it. She put the flavouring in the allotted compartment and lit the coal with a match. Once the coal had burned for enough time, she wrapped her silver chrome acrylics around the pipe and sucked the flavoured smoke in, with her heavily lashed eyes glued on Destiny.
Destiny shook her head and shrugged. "Don't be silly, you have every right to be excited about the shoot and my drama is old news, really."
"You didn't answer my question." Chioma challenged, looking at her with a purposeful stare, making it clear she was not going to give up until she got a clear answer. Chioma knew how Destiny tried to avoid honest conversations about Andre and usually she let her get away with it, but it was time for her to stop being childish and have a real conversation.
"Well, I'm doing better than I was a few days ago. Today has been a bit easier because Mia is with my parents, so it gives me time to actually work through my emotions."
Chioma cocked her head to the side as she deeply empathised with her friend. "I understand... mothers are strong man. You go through your own pain, but you have to put your child first, always."
"Exactly. I can't lie it hurts a lot, but it was inevitable... this was always going to happen."
"Honestly, I hoped that you two would eventually get it together... not just because of Mia but because I think the love was real."
"Clearly, love is not everything because look at where we are now." Destiny agonised.
"Babe, you need to take the time to think about how you are going to move forward. When you're ready to get into a relationship you need to make sure you have learned from this. Andre tried with you, he held you down in every way and he probably loves you more than he loves himself. I can't act like I know the ins and outs of your whole relationship, but I know that you have to think about what you want... and why someone being so good to you was not enough for you."
Destiny frowned and swallowed back a tear. "I know."
"You need to properly face every way you went wrong so that this never happens again. You don't have another three years to waste, sis. Use this time to get in your bag, I know you say Thee Hair Heaven isn't your life goal, but it is what is giving you income at the moment so put your all into it. Channel this emotion into something productive."
"Thank you, Chioma." She let out a deep breath. "I appreciate it." It wasn't easy for her to hear what Chioma had to say but she had to accept it. Destiny was now a young woman, no longer the teenager that mistakenly got pregnant for her friend. Everyone was right, she had to face her demons and move on. "I have heard everything you've said, and thinking is all that I've been doing over the past few days. Maybe now that it is over, it finally forces me to deal with everything... argh!" she exclaimed suddenly, eyeing her phone with disdain.
"What?" Chioma blew out the shisha smoke and shifted closer to look at Destiny's phone, wondering why was staring at her screen with a scorned, exhausted expression.
"This KaylaBleu girl is always on my explore page like some sick joke. I really don't want to see this right now... you know he's probably linking her again, right? He's going to act like that had nothing to do with his decision but BFFR."
"We don't know that for sure..." Chioma picked up her laptop again, scrolling through a décor and costume website. "But I actually wanted to talk to you about her."
"About Kayla? What about her?"
"You know she was supposed to be one of the models in the shoot. So far, I've got Annabel, Demilade and Jael. Kayla was supposed to be the fourth person but that was before she told me about her and Ace."
"Right..." Destiny sunk into her seat. It was a huge blow to her ego every time she remembered that Chioma was acquainted with Kayla.
"Amaka is pressuring me to get the contracts sent out to them because the shoot day is basically a month from now. I've been delaying because whatever I do with Kayla is your call. If you don't feel comfortable with it, I will find someone else."
"She is your friend, Chioma. I am not going to ask you to do her dirty." What Destiny really wanted was for Kayla to disappear from her life and everyone around her, but she knew it was not the right way to think. As much as she wanted Kayla far away from her friends, she had to put the success of Chioma's business first. She had worked so hard and deserved everything to go according to plan.
"But when it comes down to you and her, you already know where my loyalties lie... I don't even have to waste words on that."
"Just work with her. She's got a good following; she's popping right now, and didn't you say she's only charging you half of her usual rate? You can't miss out on that... and definitely not for me, sis."
"Are you sure, Dest?"
"Yes! Do you want me to take a lie detector test or?" Destiny joked to break the ice and make it clear she was okay. "I won't come to the shoot though; I don't need to torture myself like that."
"Can you stop please!" Payton doubled over in a fit of laughter as Abs danced in front of her. He put on Hot Gal Nuh Fight Ova Man – Mr. Vegas and gyrated his hips to the beat.
"Woi! Am I not taking part in your culture? Yes goodie!" he grinned and danced with exaggerated movements.
"Kayson, I beg you tell your friend to stop!" she turned to face his close friend and music manager. They had all come to the studio so that Abs could get some inspiration to write lyrics. He was suffering from a serious case of writer's block, so Payton forced him to book a studio session and came along for moral support. Abs had really been there for Payton recently, so she wanted to be there for him. He would listen to her rant for as long as she wanted to and always made sure to get her out of the loneliness of her room and she appreciated it all.
"That ain't my boy." Kayson shook his head and responded to emails on his phone.
"Rah... with friends like this, who needs enemies?" he finally stopped dancing and tried to catch his breath from all the movement.
"I'm gonna really be your enemy if you don't get in the booth and make something happen, bro." Kayson hissed. He managed to get Abs an interview on the new urban show on BBC 1 XTRA and wanted him to debut a song on there. It was a great opportunity and when he agreed to be his friend's manager, he promised he would do everything in his power to excel him. Kayson was determined to make good on his word.
"I've been trying though, Kays. I don't know what's going on. My mind ain't right."
"I hear that but you're the one that doesn't want to release 'Yung Boy Prayer'. We have a perfectly good hit on our hands, but you don't want to drop it."
"Wait..." Payton interjected. "So, all this time you've had a tune you can premiere?"
"No, I don't." Abs turned his attention back to Payton. He licked his bottom lip and his deep twin dimples made their presence known. He stopped the music suddenly and sighed. "That tune is personal, and I wrote it when I was in a dark place. I don't want to release that energy."
"Pain sells though." Kayson shrugged. Payton admired their relationship and their bond slightly reminded her of Shiloh and Andre. Kayson had Abs' best interest and heart, but he also had to be firm with him when business was concerned.
"That's true." She nodded in agreement.
"I know, but I would rather not have people lip syncing on snap to my innermost thoughts." Abs dismissed them. "I need to think of something cah I've got a session with the engineer tomorrow."
Kayson decided to play some of the new beats he received, hoping it could inspire Abs in some way. Payton poured herself a drink into one of the red cups at the side, she filled half the cup with Courvoisier and the rest with coke. She was already tipsy so she knew this cup would take her over the edge. Abs got in the booth and put on the overhead headphones and sipped on a bottle of Cherry B, he did not want to drink heavy spirits because he was already faded from the lean he drank earlier. He bopped his head and mumbled a melody into the microphone, stopping and starting over to adjust the sound.
Payton enjoyed watching Abs in his element and now that their bond had blossomed it made her appreciate his music much more. She felt a deeper connection to the words and was honoured that she had the pleasure of knowing him in a way most people didn't. He had much more depth than she expected and the wisdom he released often shocked her, he also had the kindest heart and helped her to let her guard down a bit and relieve herself of the burden she carried around daily. Her mind drifted to the song that Kayson mentioned and she hoped she would be able to hear it one day. She heard something he hummed in the booth, and it sounded really sweet in her ears, so she put up two thumbs up to give him some encouragement.
"Aye! Come on g!" Kayson grinned and pressed the button on the production soundboard so that Abs could hear him from the booth. "That last melody was lit! Put that 'money don't make a man' line in there for now, let's see what we can cook up with that!"
"Calm, Kays. I got you."
After an hour in the booth, Abs managed to write a hook and a bit of a verse. That was the most productive he had been in weeks and he was overjoyed to have some sort of breakthrough.
"I'm gonna take your car to pick up the food, yeah?" Kayson addressed Abs. They decided to get something to eat because all three of them were feeling hungry. They placed an order over the phone and Kayson decided to pick it up on their behalf.
"I can't wait to eat boy." Abs ran his hand through the temporary mini dreads at the top of his head and sat down on the couch next to Payton. He put one hand on the top of the seat and the other on his chest.
"Are you okay?" she peered at him closely. He seemed to be flustered and his eyes looked awkward.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm good. I think I'm just hungry or something."
"Oh okay, cool. Maybe just take it easy until Kayson gets back with the food?" she watched him crack open another bottle of Cherry B.
A smile dangled on the corner of his lips as he looked at her. "Aww, are you worried about me? You're cute man. This is juice, it ain't gonna do me nothing." He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and squeezed her affectionately. "I'm happy I've managed to do a lil suttin in the stu. Hopefully it is good enough to be a single. I need to keep this vibe going."
"Shut up fool." She hissed at him for purposely trying to make her cringe by calling her cute. "But yeah, I'm really happy for you too. Finally getting out of your music funk."
"This artist thing ain't easy. Things were so much easier when I only made music in my room and only my boys would hear it. The production was ass, but I didn't feel all this pressure, you know?"
"I get that... but now it's a business so it must be mad different for you."
"Exactly. People know me now and that comes with a whole lot of expectations and industry politics. I'm sensitive about my art, you know?"
"Play back what you have so far."
"Calm, bear in mind this is just a messy take. I'll probably record it properly tomorrow and decide what I want to call it." He tapped away at the laptop and then pressed play.
Payton closed her eyes and nodded her head slowly to the euphoric gentle intro of the beat. The soft backing vocal of a female voice creeped in and added a beautiful texture to the sound. She smiled and realised Kayson's suggestion to get a female vocalist in the studio to add to it made so much sense. The four-count bass drum came in and took the instrumental to another level, her body involuntarily bounced along. Her eyes flew open when Abs voice came in so smoothly. "Oi, nah! This bangs." She giggled when she saw him with his eyes closed too, seeming to be taking in the music intently. "You love it." She teased him.
Abs did not respond, and Payton became very concerned. "Abs... Abs?" his body stiffened next to her and although everything from that moment onwards seemed to move in slow motion, his movement was too quick for her to cushion his fall. His body tilted and dropped onto the cold floor like a penny crashing and bouncing against the pavement. "Abs!!" she shrieked.
Payton fell to her knees beside him with a force that would definitely leave a bruise. Her heart quickened and she gasped for air aloud trying to think of what to do. "Abs?" she called out to see if he was conscious at all, as she reached out to touch him, his body began to vibrate. His legs and arms twitched with uncontrollable jerking movements and Payton felt the blood rush to her brain. "Oh my God!" she felt as if she was about to lose consciousness herself as she feared for the worst, wondering if Abs was dying in front of her. His body convulsed more intensely, and it finally registered in her brain that he was having a seizure.
Her whole body shook, and her breathing became shallow as she scanned the chair frantically for her phone. She picked up the phone and dialled the emergency number, she could barely hear the sound of the call connecting over the drumming of her own beating heart.
"Emergency. Which service?" a male operator with a Welsh accent asked her.
"Hello... I need... I need an ambulance. My friend is having a seizure." She held her hand over her heart to calm herself down. The anxiety was overtaking her, but she knew she had to keep control for Abs' sake.
"Is the patient breathing?"
"I-I don't know... erm... I think so. B-barely."
"Madam, we are going to get an ambulance sent out. What address are you calling from?"
She quickly put the call on speaker and went into her Uber app and looked at her most recent journey, from there she was able to find the address and read it out to him.
"The ambulance should be with you within ten minutes. Is it a flat or a house?"
"It's a studio in a building with multiple offices... sort of like a flat they need a code to enter. It's 4590."
"Thank you, madam. How long has the seizure been taking place and if there is any tight clothing, please carefully loosen it."
"I would say about four minutes and there is no tight clothing."
"Do you know if the patient has a history of epilepsy?"
"I-I don't know." She realised it must have been caused by the lean he was drinking, and Abs had never mentioned being epileptic to her. She suddenly remembered Kayson and flustered around thinking of how to contact him. He was more likely to know Abs' medical history. She stood up on her feet and felt like she forgot how to walk and picked up Abs' iPhone. Dropping to her knees once again, Payton angled herself so she could put the phone by his face so the facial ID would recognise him and unlock the phone. She scrolled through his recent call list and breathed a sigh of relief when she found his number listed under 'Kayzz'.
Whilst she waited for him to pick up, she alternated between looking around the room and down at Abs to make sure he was still breathing. She spotted what she was looking for – the bottle of the lean mixture and the original Promethazine-Codeine bottle. She ran to the back window and poured out the liquid content and then positioned her hand and chucked the bottles into a bush. She looked around until she found the side pouch Abs was wearing earlier that day and rummaged through till she saw a packet of weed because she knew he always had a pack on him. She opened it up and let the contents fall out onto the grass below.
"Yo, Abasi." Kayson shouted into the phone. "I grabbed the food still; they were moving long in there."
"Kayson! It's Payton... Abs had a fit and the ambulance are on the way now."
"What? What are you talking about?" he lamented in disbelief.
"I don't know what happened... one minute he was fine. He seemed a bit off but nothing crazy and the next he was on the ground. Please get here as fast as you can they are asking questions I don't even know the answer to."
She heard his engine rev like the roar of the lion and was relieved that he was speeding to get back as soon as possible. "Should I call his parents... I'm not sure what to do."
"Shit... nah... nah. Don't do that. I'm around the corner yeah... I'm coming."
In the ambulance ride to the hospital, the medical responders assured Abs' shaken friends that he was going to be okay. They explained that seizures are very common, and they would likely drain the substances out of his system when they reached the hospital and run a few tests. By the time they put Abs into recovery position, he had regained consciousness but was quite delirious and could barely open his eyes. Payton fiddled with her hands during the ride and mentally told her beating heart to calm down. The whole ordeal took her back to suppressed moments of her childhood when she had to respond to Leesha when she overdosed or simply went on a bender. The manic rallying around and having to hide illegal substances evoked emotions she never wanted to feel again.
Kayson and Payton had to answer the nurse and doctors' questions honestly regarding what substances Abs had consumed that day, for his own safety. Whilst they waited in the waiting area, the hospital staff fitted Abs with an intravenous drip to top up his blood sugar, water and vitamin levels. They also gave him a blood test and ran some neurological examinations to make sure there was no unseen damages.
When they were allowed to enter the room, their hearts were glad to see Abs' sitting upright in the patterned hospital gown. He was still a bit drowsy but looked much better than they expected.
"Hey." He spoke softly at them and managed to crack a smile.
"You're a wasteman! Don't scare me like that again, g." Kayson frowned and chuckled at the same time. He slapped Abs' hand lightly and Abs chuckled back.
"You alright, Payton?"
"I should be asking you that, Abs..." she tried to speak normally but her voice came out in a mouse like tone.
"I'm good man, they're going to give me contact details to some addiction services... I'll probably be out of here by tomorrow morning."
Kayson shook his head and looked between them both. "Abasi, you need to quit the lean ting. This has gotten out of hand."
"Exactly." Payton concurred. She dug in her jacket pocket and found a hair band to tie her hair back. "The nurse was telling me they had one boy overdose on lean and he was in a coma for almost two months. And years later he is still struggling to regain his speech... this is not a joke, Abs. You have so much going for you, so much talent, so much to give to this world. This has to stop."
"This would break your parents' heart, bro. I knew you wouldn't want me to call them but if you don't get this under control and something like this happens again, they will have to be involved. Your life is at stake." Kayson spoke up again. The expression on his face was painful to look at, concern and fear etched all over it.
Abs' eyes blinked repetitively then he dropped his gaze to his lap, shamefully. He felt intense regret for what he had put them through that day, and he knew everything they were saying was right. When he started taking lean, it was just to spark some inspiration for his music, but he ended up feeling drawn to the high. It went from only using it in studio sessions, to drinking it on a regular day or even just to curb boredom. He had never had a seizure in his life and was always a healthy individual. It was clear the drug was taking a toll on his body, and he needed to do something about it. He groaned and wanted to get out of the hospital as soon as possible, it was hurting his head to think about how he was going to stop. He had enough sense to know it was not going to be easy. It had become a part of his essential living – it was an addiction whether he liked it or not and breaking the harmful habit was going to be a tough journey.
Payton stayed with Abs and Kayson for another hour until she had to leave. She felt guilty that she was leaving him at a time like this, but her grandma had been calling her and probably needed her to look after Saniyah. She gave Abs a tight hug before she left and told him she would see him soon and waved goodbye to Kayson.
She walked out of the hospital cubicle, letting the curtain flap behind her. She breathed out a heavy sigh and zipped up her jacket. When she left her house to meet Abs, she had no idea of the kind of day that would lay ahead of her. She literally and figuratively had his life in her hands, and she thanked God she was there with him because if he was alone, the consequences could have been much more dire. Her eyes darted back up and she saw a short female figure rushing towards the cubicle she had just left. It dawned on her that the person was going to see Abs. She froze mentally when she recognised Naomi from the fight they had over Abs at Samson's house. Her short hair was messy and not styled and she had a big fluffy pink robe wrapped around her body. Payton felt her heartbeat pick up pace again as her eyes set on Naomi, she had vowed the next time she saw her she would beat her to a pulp on sight. She did not think the circumstances of their meeting would occur in this way.
Naomi's eyes were red and puffy from tears and though her steps were quick and determined she appeared to be weakened by the news of Abs in hospital. Payton mustered up all the strength and decorum in her to keep walking and not make her way towards Naomi and wrap her arms around her frail neck. She had to stop herself from confronting her for Abs' sake, she was sure he did not need a fight breaking out on the hospital floor on his behalf. Payton's eyes bore into Naomi's grey orbs as if she was examining her soul or attempting to light a fire with her bodily energy. Naomi's eyes widened in recognition and her mouth grew a gasp. They looked back at one another with grave intent as they walked in opposite directions, Naomi was the first to tear her eyes away, tears building up as she disappeared behind the curtain and into Abs' presence.
Payton cracked her neck from side to side and rotated her shoulders to relieve the tension in her body. Beyond the desire to release a violent rage she felt when she saw Naomi, she also felt another emotion. She could not pinpoint what it was but seeing how much Naomi obviously cared about Abs affected her and she wondered how she even found out what happened in the first place. She made several failed attempts to determine what she felt and eventually she accepted that she felt distressed that someone else felt as strongly about him as she did.
Writer's Note
Do you feel sorry for Destiny?
How do you feel about Payton and Abs' situationship? Do you like/want them together?
Let's discuss!
Dorah Writes x