started.
“Nah, not really,” Coco interjected. “That’s all we know.”
“Your nose looks bad. What happened?” The second officer asked, looking directly at Coco.
“A fight, yo. Someone messing ‘round wit’ my man, you know. Gotta defend what’s mine.” Coco said.
“It’s a tough world, young lady. Did any of you happen to see any faces, or anything that may help to identify someone?” The officer asked.
“A black Benz. A nice whip,” Danielle said. Her voice trailed off.
“That’s it?” The officer asked. “Is that all you people know?”
“Yeah, that’s it. They jacked her right over there,” Josephine said.
“They?” The first officer asked zooming in on Josephine.
“How many were there?” He questioned with excitement in his voice. “Two, three, four? How many?” He was almost shouting.
“There were two of them,” Coco said sternly.
“And they kidnapped a girl,” Josephine cried. “That’s all we know.”
“Well, stay here, I’m gonna get an ambulance.” An officer commanded.
“Can you describe the girl? What was she wearing?”
“Black spandex and a black sweater,” Danielle replied.
“Anything else?” The officer mumbled, and proceeded to put in the call for an ambulance.
“Just a black girl in black with a black car,” Coco said sarcastically.
“That’s all we know,” Josephine said. The officers huddled. The senior guy returned.
“Stay out of fights,” he said directly to Coco. The rest of you best be getting home.” Sirens pierced the air. The ambulance arrived. Coco was treated by the emergency medical technicians. When she alighted from the ambulance, Da Crew ran to meet her.
“Well, it’s not broken, is it?” Josephine asked.
“No. Takes more than a little punch from a sucker to break something here, kid,” Coco bragged. The girls embraced. This was the first time all three had shown any emotion, other than in their passion for singing. They hugged, and each thought about Deedee. Oneness enveloped the group, which came through in the tenderness of the moment. Coco, still a little woozy from the alcohol and the blow to her nose, was now able to speak.
“Wonder what’s up wit’ Dee. I hope she’s ahight.”
“Yeah, I hope she’s okay,” Danielle added.
“She was only looking out for me. I owe her some kinda due, ya know?” Coco searched for corroboration. The idea was still overwhelming to her. She had just met Deedee, didn’t even know her last name, and was already feeling connected. “Deedee was looking out, yo,” she said, quickly summing up the moment.
“Y’all could stay at my place. My parents won’t mind,” Josephine said. She did not look directly at her, but Coco felt the last part was meant for her. After all, her mother would probably be drunk and would curse up a storm had they gone there. Josephine understood. And besides, she had her own room, and her home was always clean.
“I got some loot. Let’s catch a cab, yo,” Coco said.
“Yeah, let’s do that,” Da Crew agreed. They hailed a cab, and it stopped. The girls looked at each other with surprise.
“Aw shit!” Danielle said. “This must be some kinda omen or something. Strange things happen in threes, and this taxi stopping for us makes two. No more car rides for the weekend, y’all.” The girls ran to the cab.
“A hundred and twelfth and Lenox,” said Josephine. The three girls huddled in the back seat of the taxi. The driver hesitated.
“What’s the problem?” Josephine asked. She repeated the address. The driver glanced nervously at the rear-view mirror.
“Aw, c’mon. We ain’t trying to jack your ass. See, we got loot,” Coco said. She showed the driver a couple of ten-dollar bills.
“See money. Now drive,” Danielle ordered.
“Yeah, let’s go already,” Josephine screamed.
“Alright,” the cab driver said. “Now I drive.”
“Think we gonna disrespect your livelihood, yo, Mr. Cabbie?”
“We should,” Danielle said. “Take his loot and all. Straight jacking.”
“Will you cut that out, Dani. Hello, we are trying to get somewhere here,” Josephine said. “She’s sorry, Mr. Cabbie.”
The car started moving, but the driver was still a bit uneasy. He kept glancing back as if he expected something. Nothing happened. The girls remained quiet.
“In my country people are not so disrespectful. They respect life and property. Americans, have no regard for either, especially Blacks and Latinos.”
“Ahight, ahight be easy. Watch what you’re saying or I’ll have to let my girl Dani, jack your ass,” Josephine said.
“That’s exactly what happened to a girl earlier. It’s not your fault you’ve been brought up in a violent world…”
The taxi driver’s voice crackled through the tension in the air. The girls sat glowering in the backseat. Before they had playfully heeded what he was saying. Now he had their full attention.
“Uh, what did you say?” Coco asked sounding annoyed.
“Oh I said you’ve been raised in violence.” The taxi driver said.
“Nah, nah, before all that, you mentioned something about a girl,” Coco said.
“Oh yeah, I said that on the news someone call the police they saw a girl along Route eighty-seven? It was over the radio.” There was a deadly silence as the girls held their breath.
Coco grabbed her bandaged nose as her heart sunk. It had been on her mind since she had recovered from the punch in the face. Everything seemed to hurt a little more as the driver continued with the second-hand news.
“She was apparently raped,” the driver informed his passengers.
“Wait up. What girl?” Coco heard the others asking.
“Found her where? Is she dead? Ah man, damn!” Things became a blur to Coco.
“They fucking did her, those muthafuckas,” Danielle cried in anguish.
Coco winced from the pain. She sat erect, her back slightly arched, and held her nose. No sound came. She had just met Deedee, but the pain she felt was deep. Her head started to pound again. This was real bad. They had jacked her and the car. Why didn’t they
