Ajahni’s View. †
I have never been so desperate in my life.
I wanted to know so much, but Roshon wouldn’t let me ask questions. He would just occasionally feed me, and then leave me in a corner to wonder how I ended up here. I wanted to make sense of the voicemail message on Hodgy’s phone after he left, but I couldn’t. To discover something, you needed more than one piece of the puzzle. That message was the only piece I had, and everything else was blank.
Anytime I tried to ask Roshon something, he would tell me to shut up. If I didn’t, he would hit me. It happened many times before. It only stopped two days ago when I gave up. Well as a matter of fact, it might not have been two days. It might have been an hour. How could I know? I had no sense of time.
“Just tell me where we are.” My frail voice pleaded as I stared at the breakfast bread in front of me with tears in my crusty eyes.
“In the middle of nowhere. Didn’t I tell you that already?” He replied with annoyance.
(Good. At least he’s willing to answer you. Keep inquiring.)
That was the first time Chanel spoke to me in a while. I hadn’t been in the mood to speak to my inner spirit, so I kept her quiet for a long time. I guess she found her way back to the surface.
“I know that. But nowhere in the world is the middle of nowhere. We have to be somewhere. So tell me.” I demanded. Roshon chuckled softly.
“And what happens if I don’t tell you, Ajahni?”
I looked to Chanel for this question.
(Then you’ll just have to keep asking questions.)
“Then I won’t stop asking you questions. And I know you don’t want that.” I said, managing to crawl closer to where Roshon was sitting. My eyesight had gotten better over the past few days with the mere nutrition I was getting. I could see that Roshon looked a lot like Christopher. I mean, of course he wasn’t as handsome as Christopher, but he wasn’t half bad. Maybe that’s why Christopher liked him…
Shut up. Their relationship wasn’t real. It couldn’t be, I told myself.
“Alright, fine, little miss determined.” Roshon started, putting out his cigarette. “We’re in New York City, baby. Remember the place you came to for fame, but they weren’t giving you love? That’s when you fled to California, right?”
My eyes widened. “How would you know that?”
“I have my ways.” He confidently replied.
“Why did you take me here?”
“Because I couldn’t have you running around Portland causing trouble. And anyway, I have business to take care of here in New York.” Roshon said.
“But wouldn’t you want me in Portland? Hodgy was there, and we were together. So that was straying me from looking for Christopher. Wouldn’t that distraction be good for you?” I asked him, repeating Chanel’s words.
“You’re right. Hodgy Beats was a good distraction. That was all thanks to me. I set your relationship with him up. You’re welcome, by the way. But that was until he stole Christopher’s phone. I knew as soon as he stole the phone, it would cause trouble. So I made arrangements to take you away, finally.” Roshon explained.
“Wait, when did Hodgy steal Christopher’s phone?”
“When he met up with him a few nights before I took you.”
I was dead still. Everything inside me was confused. Hodgy met up with Christopher? He saw him, in the living flesh? That couldn’t be true! All this time we were looking for him, and Hodgy already knew where he was…
“He lied to me. You made him lie to me, didn’t you?” I screamed at Roshon.
“No. You made him lie to you. He loved you so much that he had no choice but to lie to you. I had nothing to do with that.”
I closed my eyes and breathed. I breathed out all my frustration and anger, and the confusion about this bizarre situation. I released everything and then opened my eyes again, this time with my mind a little more organized.
“The day when I found myself in the homeless shelter…That was after I got abducted. It was you, I know that. But why did you let me go? You had the chance right there and then to take me.” I said.
“I beat you up on a street corner and left you there to be found. Yes, I could have taken you, but there was still more work to do on my part. I still had a little more manipulation to do.”
I couldn’t take time to think about Roshon’s answers to my questions. If I did, I would go absolutely mad. So I just kept on asking. “The very first night I tried to go to one of Christopher’s concerts, I got raped on the way. How—”
“Yeah, I was the one that raped you. I could’ve saved all of us a lot of trouble and taken you that time, but I found out on short notice. I had to do what I had to do.” Roshon looked at me slyly. I cowered away from him, remembering that night.
“But what about when I broke out of the hospital? How did you make me do that?”
Roshon laughed. “I didn’t, Ajahni. Some things that happened weren’t my work. You were helping me along the way. You were my partner in crime and you didn’t even know it.”
Roshon was beginning to put deep fear in me. I didn’t even want to look at him anymore.
“Two more questions—one, what was that voicemail message on Hodgy’s phone all about? And two, do you know where Christopher is?”
“Remember Ajahni, Hodgy stole Christopher’s phone. That voicemail message wasn’t for Hodgy, it was for Christopher. And yes, I know where he is. He’s looking for me. The girl on the voicemail message wanted him to know that she found out where I am. So now, he’s probably on his way to searching for me…which is why I need to get you out of here.”
Again, I was frozen. But instead of sitting there and staring into Roshon’s evil eyes, a woman came in, kissed his cheek, and took me away.
* * *
I was a completely different girl now. It was like my transformation into Chanel. Actually, it was my transformation into Chanel. The woman that took me kept calling me that name. She took me to some sort of salon inside the building. She curled my hair and dyed it black, put red lipstick and other makeup on me, and then dressed me up in New York-like clothing.
Then I was being dragged outdoors. As soon as I emerged out of the unknown building, I breathed in deeply and smiled. I’d always liked New York City. It was less busy than I remembered, though. As I studied the street signs, I could see that this was SoHo. I’d never been to this part.
I walked away from the building, well aware of Roshon behind me. He told me to keep walking straight, so I did just that. Then a big building materialized a few blocks away—a hospital. When it came into view, Roshon stood beside me. I idly patted my big, puffy hair as we walked.
I didn’t have any idea why I was being taken here. We walked toward the hospital and right before we went in, Roshon told me to follow him as he jogged over to the alleyway beside the hospital. He kneeled down in front of me as I stood there, becoming more interested in what was happening.
“What are you doing?” I asked him.
“How old are you—twenty, right?” Roshon asked, disregarding my question.
“Twenty-one. Why?”
“You were jogging and you cut your leg on a wire. Ajahni, are you listening? You were jogging, and you cut your leg on a wire. Now go. I’ll come back for you sometime. When I come back, you probably would have done some things on your own, like you always do. I’m still watching, like I always have been. See you later, kiddo.”
And just like that, Roshon pulled a knife out of his pocket and sliced my leg with it, creating a big gash. His hands covered my scream of pain. Then he pushed me onto the sidewalk and ran away.
It all made sense. He was sending me back to the hospital.
“Oh my God, what happened to your leg?” A nurse asked as soon as I got into the hospital.
“I was jogging and I cut my leg on a wire.” I replied.
“What’s your name?”
“Chanel Belmonte.”
Then they took me into a room. My leg was bandaged, and I also got a checkup. I spent the night there though, because they wanted to re-bandage my leg in the morning. Overnight as I slept, I thought of Roshon’s words.
When I come back, you probably would have done some things on your own, like you always do.
When he said ‘things’, he meant things to help him in this little game. Just like he’d called me his partner in crime—I was always going to help him without knowing it. This time, after I got out, I’d have to be more careful. I would have to think two steps ahead of Roshon and do things that wouldn’t help him at all. I would have to break this cycle.
I’m still watching, like I always have been.
Well I guess he’ll just have to watch me get to Christopher before he does.