Shy lay across her bed and watched Law and Order on television. She’d never seen it before and was actually pretty surprised at how much she was enjoying it.
She heard keys in the lock and got off the bed. The door opened and as usual, the same two men walked in. One threw Shy a hood. "Put that on and then hold your hands out in front of you. Were goin’."
Shy quietly complied with their orders and her hands were quickly tied in front of her. They led her out of the room and down the stairs. On the way down, Shy prepared herself for another ride in the trunk.
It wasn’t all that bad once you get past the idea of it, Shy thought.
So naturally she was pleasantly surprised when she heard the words, "You’re gettin’ in the car, so watch your head," one of the men said as he gently pushed Shy’s head down.
As the car drove, Shy gave some thought to where she was goin’ and what she could expect when she got there. Suddenly the car stopped. "Hold out your hands."
Shy held out her hands and could feel him tugging on the rope. Next Shy felt the man reach across her and heard the door open. "Get out," he said and give Shy a push. She stumbled out of the car and quickly pulled off her hood in time to see a taxi cab speed away and get lost in a sea of taxi cabs. It didn’t matter, she was free.
Shy looked around to see where she was and a smile came across her face when she realized that she was standing outside Penn Station. She was home. Shy very happily began to walk down 34th street toward seventh ave, but stopped in her tracks when she saw two cops standing on the corner. At that moment she got very paranoid when she thought about the fact that she had a warrant.
Slowly she came to the conclusion that she wasn’t on America’s Most Wanted list and every cop in New York wasn’t out looking for her, so she calmed down a little. Her next thought was what she was going to do. There was no way for her to know if anybody knew that she was free, much less coming to pick her up.
Okay, you wanted to be back in New York, big girl, so what now?
Shy knew that the first thing that she needed to do was call somebody and let them know that she was all right, but she had no money.
Shy walked down the street looking at the people as they passed until she saw a sympathetic looking woman, sitting on some steps outside Penn
station, who was talking on her cell phone. She walked over and stood near the woman, waiting patiently for the woman to get finished with her call. "Excuse me," Shy said and the woman turned to her. "I don’t mean to bother you, but can I use you cell phone, please? I’m stranded and I need to call somebody to come and get me. I promise I won’t take long."
The woman passed Shy the phone. "Take your time, honey."
Shy thanked the woman and dialed a number. "Cuisine, how may I direct your call?" the receptionist asked.
"May I speak to Mike Black, please?"
"Mr. Black is not in. Can somebody else help you?"
"What about Bobby Ray?"
"Mr. Ray is not in either."
"This is Cassandra Black, is Freeze or Wanda there?"
"Mrs. Black, are you all right?" the receptionist asked.
"I’m fine."
"Where are you?"
"I’m on 34th street outside the Garden."
"That’s good. Stay right where you are, Freeze is on his way to get you. Hold on and I’ll find out how long he’ll be."
"Thank you, but please hurry, I’m on somebody’s cell phone."
"I won’t be long, I promise," the receptionist said and put Shy on hold.
"No need to rush. Take your time, honey. I know how niggas get when you don’t give them what they want. I saw them push you out that cab. Niggas ain’t shit," the woman continued as Shy held on.
When the receptionist came back on the line she told Shy that Freeze was on the Westside highway and should be there in ten minutes. Shy thanked her and handed the woman back her phone. "Thanks for lettin’ me use your phone. My ride should be here in ten minutes."
"No problem, honey. Like I said, I know how niggas get when you don’t give them what they want. They buy you a drink or take you to dinner and they think that’s supposed to make us throw our legs open. I think not!"
"Tell me about it." Shy smiled and sat down next to the woman.
It wasn’t long before Shy heard her name called and she saw Freeze waving to her from his truck. Shy thanked the woman for waiting with her and walked toward the truck, knowing that she was safe now.