Bury me a G 4

Chapter 2

CHAPTER ONE

Los Angeles

1982

Honk! Hoonkk! Hooonkkk!

“Come on now, get the f**k outta the way!” Melvin screamed aloud, veins bulging at his temples and neck. He was doing seventy-five in a thirty-five mile an hour zone, dipping in and out of lanes, narrowly missing other vehicles. His heart rate was jacked and his adrenaline was pumping. He was on the clock, trying to get to the hospital because his wife, Kimberly, was in labor.

He was speeding so fast on the black top that the white lines on the streets as well as the stop lights looked like blurs to him. He snatched his eyes off the windshield and glanced at his watch. It was now 9 o’clock. Someone on the hospital staff had called him at work at 8:15 P.M to let him know that his wife was going into labor, which was forty-five minutes. “s**t!” Melvin cursed, seeing the time. He was sure that his wife was well into the proceedings to give birth to their first child by now. Hopefully he was wrong, because he really wanted to be there in the room when his offspring was pushed out into the world. His head snapped back and forth between the windshield and the side view mirror, gripping the steering wheel. “Hold on, baby, you hold on! I’m almost there, just hang on!” He said to Kimberly as if she was there riding shotgun.

When Melvin looked into the side view mirror he saw a Toyota pickup truck speeding up along the right side of him. The pickup was going so fast that he was sure that the asshole driving it was trying to stall him from getting over into his lane, but he wasn’t about to have that s**t. f**k naw!

“Nah, not tonight, homeboy, you got me f****d up!” He swerved into the lane just as the Toyota was coming up, nearly causing an accident. The driver of the pickup honked his horn with a vengeance and stuck his head out of the window, cursing his ass off.

“You stupid son of a b***h!” the man spat fire from between his thin pink lips, the lower half of his face covered by a bristly, dirty blonde beard. He stuck his meaty arm out of the window and held up his chubby middle finger, steadily leaning on his vehicle’s horn.

Honk! Honnnkk! Honnnkkkkk!

“Suck my d**k!” Melvin hurled back at the irate driver and held his middle finger out of the window as well. He didn’t give a f**k about anyone else on the streets. He was trying to make it to the hospital in time to cut his newborn son’s umbilical cord. “Aww, s**t!” Melvin stated, seeing traffic ahead. Looking to his left, he saw a young man on a royal blue Huffy bike, standing up on its pedals, riding down the sidewalk. The youth was going so fast that the wind was blowing against him and ruffling his clothing.

Fuck it, Melvin thought to himself. He then drove upon the sidewalk and jumped out of his car, leaving the driver side door open. Running across the street, he came close to being hit by oncoming vehicles.

Honk! Hoonnk! Hoooonnnk!

The cars in the street blew their horns at Melvin and gave him a tongue lashing. He didn’t pay them any mind as he made it upon the sidewalk where he saw the young man on the bike. He chased after him holding up a one hundred dollar bill.

“Yoooooo! Yooooo, stop! Hold up!” He called after him, face shining from sweat. The young man sat down on his bike and cruised. Hearing someone calling after him, he looked over his shoulder. Curious as to what the man holding up the money wanted, he mashed the brakes of his Huffy and skidded to a halt.

The young man stopped and twisted around, looking at Melvin with furrowed brows. He could tell he was exhausted and most likely parched.

“What’s up?” the youngsta asked, throwing his head back.

“I’ll give you a hundred dollas for that bike.” Melvin held the dead white men out before the kid’s eyes. He snatched the money from out of Melvin’s hand and hopped off his bike, still holding on to the handle bar with one hand.

“Take it,” the youngsta released the bike as Melvin mounted it, throwing his legs over it and sitting on the triangle shaped cushioned seat.

Melvin took off pedaling fast, flying up the block, wind ruffling his clothing. He went up and down slopes, zooming past people and making some dive out of his path. “f**k out the way, my wife’s in labor!” Melvin bellowed while his face and arms were glistened from perspiration. He breathed heavily but he had to keep going if he wanted to be there for his family.

Melvin bounced up and down as he came down off a curb. His eyes were so tuned into what was ahead of him that he didn’t even see the oncoming Pontiac Trans Am at the corner of his eye.

Urrrrk!

Bunk!

Melvin flipped over the hood of the car and his bicycle fell to the ground on its handle bars. He was tired as a mothafucka, but he was determined to make it. As Melvin rose from the ground looking up at the Trans Am, he saw the driver’s door open and an Asian lady stuck her head out. A concern look was plastered across her face.

“Oh my God, me so sorry, are you okay?” she asked timidly.

“I’m fine, lady.” Melvin hopped up in a hurry and got on the bicycle, pedaling away. It wasn’t long before Melvin found himself huffing and puffing. His sweat stained around his collar and his under arms a darker color. Reaching the underground parking complex of the hospital, Melvin jumped off his bike and let it fall to the ground. He took off running towards the elevator lobby. By the time he got to the elevator it was dinging and opening to head to the tenth floor, so he didn’t even have to press the up button. “Come on, come on, come on,” Melvin impatiently tapped his foot and glanced at his watch again. It was an hour and twenty minutes since he’d last spoke to anyone at the hospital. His entire form was hot and glistening from perspiration. The beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead and the back of his neck ran like teardrops. He looked at each number as it lit up on the panel, waiting for the number seven to light up.

Ding! As soon as the elevator’s doors parted Melvin came sprinting out. He nearly fell but quickly regained his equilibrium, coming back upon his running feet again. Coming into the corridor, he breathed huskily and whipped his head from left to right. Remembering that his lady’s room was on the East wing of the hospital, he ran down the right corridor. His head whipped from left to right looking at the numbers that was posted on the side of the respective doors aligning the hallway. The room number that he was looking for was, 762. He saw room 757, 758, 759 to his right, so he knew that room 762 was coming up soon. At that moment, the biggest smile stretched across his face. The date was here, the time was now. He was finally going get the chance to lay his eyes on his baby boy and the love of his life.

Hold on, baby, I’m almost there, Melvin thought to himself, hearing his thudding heart and labored breathing inside of his ears. Just then, a doctor emerged into the hallway from the room that he was headed to. He was in a surgical cap, a protect mask which he wore around his neck and scrubs that were speckled with blood. The man stopped when he looked down the hall and saw Melvin running in his direction. He wasn’t for sure, but he had an idea who he was. “Are you Melvin Petty?” the doctor asked curiously, once Melvin had stopped before him. “Yes, yes, how you doing, doc?” Melvin shook his hand with both of his and tried to steal a glance into the room he’d just walked out of. “My boy make it here yet?” He asked with excitement. Homie was so anxious that he couldn’t stop moving around. A grim expression etched across the doctor’s face and he looked away, shutting his eyelids and taking a deep breath. He then looked back to Melvin who looked concerned.

“Doc, is everything okay with my son?” Melvin asked worried. “Yes, everything is okay with your son, but…”

“But what? What’s the matter?” He tried to glance into the room again, hearing his son crying aloud. Hearing his offspring brought a slight smile to his face. He moved to enter the room, but the doctor placed his hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “I’m afraid I have some bad news, Mr. Petty.” the doctor finally told him. “Yeah, what’s up?” His brows furrowed. At that moment, Melvin’s heart began beating harder and faster in his chest. He swallowed the lump of nervousness in his throat and wiped away the sweat that threatened to drip from off his brows. “Your wife,” the doctor’s eyes turned glassy and his nostrils flared. His bottom lip quivered because he hated to be the bearer of bad news. He already knew what he was about to lay on Melvin was going to crush him. Still, he had to tell him anyway. “Your wife passed away giving birth to your baby.” He told him regretfully.

It was true. In Kimberly Leblanc Petty’s final hour she pushed with all of her might, feeling an antagonizing pain like any other. An excruciating pain ripped through her stomach as she unknowingly started to hemorrhage, releasing her son into this cold world. As he took his first breath, she took her last. Melvin’s eyelids stretched wide open and he gasped. His mouth hung wide open as he held his hand to his chest and staggered backwards, looking like he’d been shot through the heart. Instantly, his eyes pooled with tears and his knees buckled. Still, he managed to stand. Feeling himself about to collapse, he staggered over to the nurse’s station’s desk. He grabbed hold of the edge of the desk, but eventually dropped to his knees. Tears cascaded down his cheeks and his hands trembled. He had become paralyzed by his hurt and devastation. It felt like all of his energy had been zapped out of him, and he had shortness of breath. He was gasping as if he had asthma. Dizziness invaded his mind and he saw double. Melvin looked up and saw the doctor and some of the other staff member trying to help him to his feet. One of the nurses, and the doctor that had given him the bad news, managed to get him upon his feet. He buckled again, overwhelmed with grief. The doctor caught him and hugged him tightly. Melvin embraced the man tighter and threw his head back. His eyes were red webbed and spilling tears consistently. “Nooooooo! God, oh God, why? I loved her, Lord, I loved her! She was the love of my life, my queen, my rib, my rock, my best friend…” Melvin sniffled and brought his head down, looking over the doctor’s shoulder that was holding him. His red nose flared and his teardrops kept falling, staining the shoulder of the man’s scrubs. “She’s gone? Is…is she really gone, doc?” He asked as he held him at arm’s length, staring into his face. The doctor wiped his tearing eyes with the back of his hairy hand and nodded. Melvin’s heart ached that much more getting the confirmation. At that moment, Melvin looked around. The entire East wing seemed to be silent. He was surrounded by hospital staff and a couple of patients. All of their eyes were tearing and watching him. They all felt his pain or couldn’t imagine what he was feeling having lost his wife. “I…I gotta be sure, I gotta see her,” Melvin left the doctor where he was standing with him. He staggered down the corridor wiping his eyes. The doctor tried to grab him but he pulled away; he insistented on seeing his wife. “Kim! I’m coming, Kim! I’m coming, baby.” He didn’t know it, but two security guards and the doctor that was consoling him was jogging down the hallway after him. Melvin reached Kimberly’s room door and turned the knob, opening it. He had gotten it halfway open when he saw Kimberly’s solemn face, eyelids shut and mouth forming a straight line. When the hospital staff that was still in the room saw him, they quickly covered her face with the sheet seeing how he was reacting. The wail of a baby brought Melvin’s head around and he saw someone still dressed up to deliver babies holding who he knew was his baby boy. It was then he realized that he had lost one loved one, but had gained another.