| Hostage Page 3 Samantha began crying and I got up and went to her. I picked her up and rocked her a bit in my arms. �Pretty baby,� Fuzzy said, and I explained who she was. �She must be hungry now. I gotta feed her.� �You mean, like breast feed? Should I turn away?� �I can�t breast feed her. She�s not my baby!� �They can tell the difference in the milk?� I shook my head and explained the workings of the female body to him. Again I got the key to the universe look. Then I told him I had to get her bottle in the fridge and he followed me out there. He wouldn�t let me snap the kitchen light on; but instead he peaked out the back window into the yard. �Shit!� he said. �What is it?� �I can see cops all over back there.� �Well, Fuzzy, what do you think they�re gonna do? Let you escape out the back?� I sat down at the kitchen table and gave the bottle to Samantha. She fed quietly. �No�come on,� he said, walking toward me. �What�s upstairs?� �Bedrooms.� �OK, we gotta go up there. You go, I�ll follow.� I carried Samantha up the stairs, still feeding her. There were several bedrooms and Fuzzy eventually brought us into the biggest one, must have been Dr. Newman�s and her husband�s. He told me to sit on the bed and then he sat in a corner against the wall and next to a closet. He faced the door with his gun out before him. �You even got any bullets in there?� I asked him. �Shut up, you. Put the TV on.� I put it on and flipped the channels, but couldn�t find any type of special news bulletin about a hostage situation. He was disappointed. �Shit like this happen all th� time in this city, Fuzz. Ain�t news.� �Spider. It�s Spider,� he said. The phone rang. We looked at it. �Can I get it?� I asked him. �No,� he said, looking puzzled, and then, �yeah, but watch what you say.� �What could I say?� I asked him. �They already know yo� name and what you did. You afraid I�m gonna tell �em that my sistah say you all talk?� �Bullshit!� he yelled. �That is bullshit. Just answer the phone.� I picked up the receiver. It was a police guy. I told him that it was me, Isabella, and that I was fine and that the baby was fine. He asked me if Fuzzy was right there, and I said, �Yup. He�s right there with his gun pointed at me.� That�s right!� Fuzzy yelled jumping up. He came to the phone as I held it and said into the receiver, �Spider right here, man, so don�t try anythin� funny. Don�t make me kill �em.� The officer asked to speak to Fuzzy, so I handed him the phone and he listened and yelled and then listened some more. Then he gave me back the phone. �Yo� mama wants ta talk to ya,� he said. My mother was all gasps and tears and I told her not to worry, that I was fine and that nothing bad was going to happen to me or the baby. Then I talked to Dr. Newman and I assured her the same. When I hung up, Fuzzy said, �You neva know. I might hafta hurt you if them cops come burstin� in here.� I sat back on the bed and finished feeding Samantha and then burped her. Fuzzy sat next to me and looked at the baby when she was cradled again in my arms. He smiled a bit. �So you say yo� sistah gotta kid? Who the daddy.� I told him. He said he knew Enrique. �Coulda been me. Could be my kid yo� sistah have. A little Spider.� I laughed. �What so funny, huh?� �No�nothin�,� I said. �Tell me girl.� He looked angry again. �Well, my I rememba what my sistah tell me �bout you back then. That you was kinda shy�that you didn�t kiss very well. That you went out for three weeks and never did it.� �That�s a lie, girl! I banged yo� sistah plenty times. She jus� don� want you ta know is all.� �My sistah screwed lotsa guys before and afta you an� she tol� me �bout each one. No need for her ta lie to me �bout nothin�. She said she thought you was a virgin.� Fuzzy jumped up, turned all red and started to speak, but then just stopped. �Hey, you know what? I�m a virgin, too, so don� worry about it, man. I ain�t lookin� at you like you strange or nothin�. From my sistah tellin� me all the shit she did I decided that I was gonna wait. She was always so miserable �bout it all, y�know? This guy, that guy. Was she pregnant? She gettin� diseases. Shit, she had two abortions. I don�t need me nonna that aggravation. So don�t worry, Spider. I ain�t judgin� you.� He turned away from me, the gun sitting in his lap. �You a nice girl, Isabella. I wished I�da gone out wit� you �steada yo� sistah.� �Yeah, well she was four years younga then you then and that woulda made me six years younga, so I wouldn�ta interested you then, and you sure didn�t interest me. Now I got me a boyfriend. Name�s Alex and he is a good guy.� �Well, good fo� you then.� He paused. �Shit, Isabella. What am I gonna do now? Place is crawlin� wit� cops. They gonna try to kill me?� �Well, they might if you drag this thing on or if they think yo� gonna hurt me or th� baby. Bes� thing you can do is walk outta here with yo� hands up.� �I don� wanna go to no jail.� �Jail or cemetery, far as I see it.� The phone rang again. �Let me talk to them,� I told Fuzzy. �Let me tell �em you ready to give up. And when they question me I tell �em that you wuz nice to me an� th� baby. Maybe the judge go easy on you.� He had gone over to the window and was peering out with one eye just beyond the edge of the frame. I heard him say �shit� under his breath, and I knew that there must be quite a scene out there. The phone continued to ring. �OK,� Fuzzy said, �answer it.� |