Piece of Mind

Piece of Mind 2

Chapter 2

I wake up in a hospital. St. Memorial Hospital to be exact. I can tell by the yellow paint on the wall. I was here before when my mother was sick. I was here for days when she died...looking at the paint on the walls.

And I swore I'd never come here again.

Why am I here?

I hear footsteps comings towards the hospital door. And then there is a knocking.

And then all of a sudden I'm falling! Falling to the ground.

The nurse runs into the room.

"Are you ok?"

I realize at that moment that I was floating above the bed. I wasn't laying in it. How the fuck could that have been possible?

"I don't know..."

"You took a nasty fall."

"Just now?"

"No...at your job. Don't you remember?"

A fall. No. I remember the boy with the gray hair giving me something to drink. And then there was nothing. The only fall that happened was just now.

"No..."

"Your aunt and a friend of yours is outside. We'll check your vitals and let them come in for a visit."

I'm so confused about what happened. I look at my phone. It's almost the end of the day. How the fuck did I miss hours of work. And why did she assume that I fell? For some reason me spending time with that boy all seems like a dream. It doesn't seem real.

And as I look in my phone I realize there is something displaying on there.

1 new message.

"Sir?" the nurse is saying. I must have not heard her.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to get your Aunt. Is that ok?"

I nod, "Yeah...yeah. That's fine."

I am not thinking about that right now. I look at the phone and open up the new message. There is a text from a strange number. It's not local. The text reads: Can you please not tell anyone that I gave you something to drink on the job? Let's keep that our little secret...

It has to be him. It has to be that boy.

I try to sit there and think at that moment about what is going on in my life but nothing comes to mind. By the time Aunt Gloria and Cedric come into the room I have nothing to say. How do you tell people that a floor really exists in a building that shouldn't be there. How do you tell people that there is a boy who can move objects with his mind. How do you tell people that this boy somehow drugged you? It doesn't make any sense.

"You ok boy?" Aunt Gloria asks, "You scared the living daylights out of me."

"He's clumsy as ever Ms. Gloria," Cedric tells her, "Out there chasing tail..."

"You saw him too?"

"The boy with the gray hair? Of course I saw him. We talked to him remember. You lose your mind with that fall?"

I wasn't making him up. The boy did exist. He did lead me up to the 40th floor. It happened. It wasn't my imagination...

Aunt Gloria is smiling from ear to ear, "You got you a boyfriend?"

"No Aunt Gloria. I don't have me a boyfriend."

"More like he has someone at the Corporation that he's stalking," Cedric states.

I want to punch him. He's getting Aunt Gloria all worked up.

"I don't get it, Jamison," Aunt Gloria says, "You're a handsome boy. You look just like that actor. What is his name?.."

"Boris Kodjoe," Cedric butts in.

Not that comparison again.

Everywhere I went people asked me if I was Boris Kodjoe. I didn't see it personally. I was a little darker and definitely still had my hair.

Aunt Gloria nods, "All the girls in my building think that you're him. You know that. And you can have any one of those girls if you wanted. Any one of those boys. I just want you to be happy. You know? What your mother died—-god rest her soul—-"

"I know I know. And my dad abandoned me when I was kid, you promised to take care of me. And sometimes you worry..."

She's had this speech with me a million times.

"Let me talk, gdam it," Aunt Gloria cuts me off, "Why don't you date? Half the city would love to have some eye candy like you around. You have your uncles looks, ya-know? He was a lady killer, I tell you. Tall dark and handsome. You could be a model Jamison! And he used to PUT IT DOWN, Jamison. What's the problem here? Are you bad in bed?"

"AUNT GLORIA!" I scream at the top of my lungs embarrassed, "I am not bad in bed. God..."

"Well are you a virgin?"

Just at that moment there is a knock on the door. It happens somewhere between Cedric laughing and Aunt Gloria embarrassing the shit out of me.

Luckily Aunt Gloria goes to answer it. Cedric is too busy laughing his face off. I'm throwing pillows at this asshole. I don't know who it is at the door but Aunt Gloria comes back with a very suspicious expression on her face.

"There are people here to see you---from that Corporation you work at," Aunt Gloria states.

People from the corporation.

"What do they want?"

Aunt Gloria shrugs, "Should I tell them to come back another time?"

I'm curious as to what they could want. It all seems so strange. Cedric is giving me a look like I am in some kind of trouble. Aunt Gloria seems like she is trying to solve some sort of jigsaw puzzle.

"Let them in." I state at that moment.

Aunt Gloria and Cedric leave the room. In a few minutes two women walk into the room. Both are very tall and very skinny. One woman is dressed in a suit and the other woman has on a pencil skirt. They seem very professional. They seem very uptight. They don't smile as they walk in. They don't offer to shake my hand. They don't ask me how I'm doing.

They stand at the foot of my hospital bed and stare down at me...

They continue staring at me. So fucking strange. I feel so uncomfortable.

"Can I help you?" I ask them.

"My name is Kenicky and this is Mal Tiffany," the woman with the suit says, "We work for Victoria Cass. Do you know who that is?"

She is beautiful. She speaks slow and precise. She is a pale white woman with brownish hair. Her skin is like milk. There are traces of gray tucked in between her hair. The other is light completed black woman. She's has olive skin and slightly coarse hair. This Mal Tiffany woman has a head full of gray hair. The gray hair is tied up in a very tight bun. The bun looks so tight that I think it's pulling at her brain.

All of a sudden I'm nervous. It's them. It's the people with gray hair at the corporation.

"No."

"She is the CEO of the Corporation where you had your little fall..." Kenicky says.

They are staring at me. I didn't know the CEO's name. I didn't know anything about the corporation. The two women are studying me almost trying to figure something out. But I don't know what.

"Ok...so...how can I help you?" I ask.

Kenicky smiles, "We just wanted to confirm that's what really happened. You know? For liability reasons. Jamison Reid. Did you fall?"

They are looking at me. Why am I nervous? Why am I scared? If the CEO of the company sent them then it's clear that they may want to know what happened with the accident. I think that maybe it would be in my best interest to tell them. But for some reason I don't trust these women. There is something off about them. There is something suspicious. And I remember the text that I got. It told me to lie.

"Yeah. That's what happened."

Suddenly a phone rings. The ringtone is a lullaby. It's coming from Mal Tiffany. Shit couldn't get any weirder than what was going on now. Mal Tiffany picks up the phone. There is something really off about her. I mean Kenicky is strange as well but Mal Tiffany just looks...unwelcoming. When she picks up her phone she puts it to her ear.

"What is it?" she asks the person on the other line. Her voice is short and demanding, "Yes...we're still in here with the boy. No. We aren't done. What? Oh ok. Well. Who is it? Hm...is that right? Interesting...I'll let Kenicky now."

She hangs up the phone.

Kenicky turns to Mal Tiffany. She seems as interested in the conversation she was having on the phone as I am.

"What is it?" she acts, repeating the same demanding tone that her coworker had.

"My sister is here," Mal Tiffany states, "Roaming around the hospital."

"Interesting."

They are like robots. The tone that they talk in is so precise. It's lacks soul or depth and sounds very superficial. It's almost as though they are reading from a script or something. It makes me nervous being around these women. I feel uncomfortable. I feel like prey surrounded by a pride of lionesses.

"Yes. Very interesting."

"Now why would she be here?" Kenicky asks.

She looks over at me. Mal Tiffany turns her head slowly. It's almost as though she is geared to do so. They are looking at me. For some reason there is some sort of distrust there. I don't know who this person is that is roaming around the hospital. I don't care either. For some reason they seem to care a lot though and they must think it has something to do with me.

"Should I take care of it?" Mal Tiffany asks.

She's looking at me when she says that.

"No. Let's report back to Victoria," Kenicky states.

The two strange women get up at that moment and they walk out of the door. I'm not surprised that when they open the door Cedric has his ear to the door eavesdropping. Regardless if he wants to admit it I know by the look on his face that he is as curious as I am.

I am not released from the hospital for another 40 minutes. After all my vitals are checked Cedric helps me out. But as we leave something strange happens.

I see Mal Tiffany again.

Except it isn't her.

It's someone who looks exactly like her. She has gray hair just like Mal Tiffany does. But instead of being in business attire this girl is dressed in an old looking jumpsuit.

Twins?

She looks at me as I pass her. She doesn't say a word. She just silently stares at me in the corridor. We pass each other and I can feel her eyes on me. She's watching me. I'm not imagining this shit!

I'm confused on who these people are with the gray hair and what exactly they want with me.

Nothing sits in my stomach that day or the next day. I feel sick. I'm an hourly worker though. I can't afford to take off. Aunt Gloria is behind on bills. I need to help her out. My stomach is pissed off at me though. A part of me thinks its the nerves. A bunch of the maintenance guys are out on the patio in the back of the building eating. Cedric is more friends with these guys than I am. I don't really fit in. Sure...I look the type. I look athletic and I do play sports. I can talk about football all day if I wanted to. I was that kind of guy, but I always felt like an outsider. It wasn't because I was gay. That had nothing to do with it. I was more masculine that most of these guys. You wouldn't be able to tell I was gay unless I told you. Being gay wasn't the problem with fitting in. I was just different. And today I felt straight up odd.

"What's up with you?" a boy asks me.

His name is Rodney. Him and his brother Isaac have been working with Cedric and I on the building. They work more on the maintaining floors 6-14. I don't have any proof but I am pretty sure that Rodney is gay and has a little thing for me. Cedric called it as well. I should probably find Rodney attractive. He's tall. He's masculine. We have a lot in common. But he just isn't...it.

I don't know how to describe it.

"Just have a lot on my mind," I tell him, "That's all."

"He got into a little fall," Cedric starts talking, "The higher ups...they probably think he's trying to run some insurance fraud. They were in the hospital questioning him."

"Thanks. Cedric. I really need all my business out here," I say sarcastically.

Cedric nods, "No need to thank me. I just do my part."

I roll my eyes.

Something else catches my attention though. The employees around the building are acting weird again.

"Since when do you have gray hairs," Rodney states.

He's talking to me. I don't know what he's talking about though. Rodney leans over the table. He leans across the table and he yanks at my head.

He pulls back a gray hair and he shows it to me. I look at it.

His brother Isaac laughs a little bit, "Don't worry about it. I'm getting old too."

I take the hair from Rodney.

"I'm just 24," I say.

"There's just a few in there," Rodney explains, "Relax."

"Don't get him worked up. You know his boo-thang works here," Cedric explains, "It took 24 years for my homie to realize he's attractive and have a crush on some body. Look. Jamison is all grown up now..."

Cedric runs his hand through my hair.

I see Rodney look funny. Cedric can't help but to spill the beans everywhere he goes.

Rodney raises an eyebrow, "You have a boo now Jamison?"

He looks hurt. A part of me always thought about what life would be like with Rodney. We kind of favor one another. Girls seem to favor me a little bit more. They say my face is handsome, but I've noticed the girls around the company hit on Rodney as well. He entertains them a little bit more than I do. He says it boosts his ego. His face is a little rough, manly. He has a goatee that's always perfectly shaved. We go to the same barber and he's there every single week. He's neat. He's handsome. He's everything that I should go for. But there's nothing mysterious about Rodney. There's nothing that excites me about him.

I shrug, "Nothing like that. Not yet at least. Just. I don't know. Just someone I like."

Rodney nods, "Hey...we should probably get back to work. My agenda is going off. All these maintenance requests are flooding in lately. Must be something big going on."

He's trying to run away. I can tell he is.

"We still have 10 minutes," his brother states.

Rodney hits his brother a little bit and signals his brother to get up. At this point I'm sure that Rodney is running away from me. It makes me feel even more like shit.

By the time they walk away I'm getting death stares from Cedric.

"What's up with you?" Cedric asks me.

"What?"

"That boy is clearly interested in you. I mean, I'm not gay, but he's...fine. If I was gay---which I'm not---I would be all over that. You two would be that handsome gay couple that all the girls swoon over. And guys like me would have to hear from our girlfriends why we can't be more like the sexy gay couple. Isn't that the life you want?"

Cedric looks at me. It should be as clear as day. It would be so easy to get with Rodney. Maybe that's what turns me off. There is no challenge.

"He's just...not the one?"

"And the freaky odd rich boy who speaks in riddles is?" Cedric asks.

"That's the thing Cedric," I explain, "That boy with the gray hair. He's mysterious. With Rodney I know what it's going to be. It'll be everything you said. Who wants to live their life knowing what everything is going to be like."

"I do..." Cedric responds.

He's serious. I know he's serious. That's the thing about me. I've always been different in that way. I always thought there was some mystery in this world to solve.

I want to argue the point a little bit more with Cedric but something is distracting me. I'm noticing that people are clearing a path from the side entrance. More and more people are moving towards the back.

All of a sudden I black out and there is nothing but darkness. An entourage of cars pull up onto the sidewalk. They are all black. The first car that pulls up is an Escalade. The man who steps out of is dressed in a black suit. He has shades on. The car behind him has a few women in it and they step out as well. I recognize the women, they are Kenicky and Mal Tiffany from the hospital.

( In the paragraph above if he is blacked out how can he see the cars and the people pull up )

That is when I see the other cars pull up. It's almost like a funeral procession. They are so precise when they pull up.

I see Annabelle and I find myself running up behind her.

"Something is happening," I say, "I want to know what it is."

Annabelle turns to me. She seems suspicious but she clearly seems less likely to have a whole smart attitude about me wanting to know what is happening right now. I watch Cedric come from behind me. We are not the only ones watching these people walk out of the cars. Everyone is watching. Everyone has cleared a path towards the building. It's almost like they are scared.

"She's called the board here," Annabelle tells me.

She seems reluctant but it doesn't matter. She's talking. Cedric gives me a stare as though warning me to go back to eating and mind our business.

I think about it but when the next person walks out of a black truck, I realize I can't just leave this alone.

It's him.

The boy with the gray hair.

"Who is that?" I ask Annabelle.

"A board member," Annabelle tells me.

He's with the others. He stands a little bit behind Kenicky and Mal Tiffany. He's just waiting.

"What's his name."

"Peace Aniston?"

"Peace like World Piece."

"Piece like...piece of work," Annabelle responds, "She's called them all here."

I finally knew his name. Piece. As in piece of work. It's ironic that is how Annabelle describes him. That's kind of what I think about when I think of him.

"Who is she?" I ask Annabelle.

"Victoria Cass, of course," Annabelle tells me, "There. Look. She's coming out. The CEO of the corporation..."

At that moment I watch as a small woman walks out of a limousine. She's short. She has to be something like 4'11". She has extremely long hair. Her hair falls to her shoulders. When she steps out of the limousine the first thing I notice is her height especially when she stands next to Mal Tiffany and Kenicky.

The next thing I notice is her grimace.

She has glasses on and a scowl.

She seems pretty enough in her own way. She's not a universal beauty like the two ladies that work for her. She is a strange beauty. Her hair isn't gray. It's more like a silver color. It reflects the light brilliantly and demands attention even with her beautiful employees by her side. She has a...presence about her. She looks like someone that might work for an editorial shoot. Her lips are very tight. I hear a man come up next to her. He's a flamboyant man...clearly gay. He isn't the only one in her entourage.

There are seven all together.

The others are just as strange. A fat man with a silver beard. The flamboyant man that stands very close to Victoria Cass. Kenicky and Mal Tiffany. The handsome looking man that stepped out of the car first. A skinny man with extremely long black hair that covers his face almost completely comes out of the van next. He shyly takes a stance somewhere in the back.

And then there is Piece.

His name is as strange as he is.

He follows behind Victoria's entourage. He lags slightly behind breaking what would be a perfect march to the building. The walk to the building almost seems rehearsed. Everyone walks so deliberately. Everything has structure. Everything has meaning.

This is the board of a corporation?

They seem more like villains from the Matrix or some strange Sci-Fi movie. They seemed so removed from reality.

"Ok. So you were right," Cedrick whispers in my ear, "These people are just...weird..."

He doesn't know the half of it.

As they walk past the crowd of people, everyone is staring. Victoria stands in the front. They walk in perfect unison behind her. It's a triangular form. They are all wearing suits...business wear. As they begin to walk past me I hold my breath. They look straight ahead. None of the seven break their focus. At least I think they don't. They are all looking forward...but there is the one oddball. The one all the way in the back. He isn't part of their perfect triangle march that Victoria heads.

Piece.

Piece turns to me. His eyes glance at mine. That is when he does it. He smiles.

I take a step forward. I just want to see him. I just want to talk to him. I want to find out what drink he gave me. I want to find out how I fell and ended up in the hospital. He's the only one who would have answers to my questions.

"I wouldn't do that," Annabelle stops me.

"I just want to talk to him," I say.

I feel Cedric's arm on my shoulder, "I think she's right. Now's not the time. Maybe catch him when he's going home for the night. You don't want to piss off the CEO."

I want to say fuck the CEO. I want to talk to Piece. He continues to stare at me as he walks through the building. You would think he'd trip and fall by how hard he's staring. That doesn't happen though. Our eyes are glued to one another. I never felt such a connection.

At that moment I decide I'm going to find a way to talk to him. I'm going to find a way to see him.

It's night time and Cedric is falling asleep. We are in the lobby of the building. Security is the only ones around and I made up an excuse about having to fix some things so that they wouldn't bother us. There are no late night maintenance requests though. I'm here waiting for Piece. I want to see him. I want to talk to him.

"Cedric, you can go home. You don't have to wait with me?"

Cedric leans up. He's drooling on the wall where he's resting his head.

"Come with me. Let's just...go..."

It's going on 8 pm. I look at my watch.

"Go ahead. An hour more and I'll leave."

"You promise?"

"I promise," I tell him.

Cedric nods, "Man. That boy must have some golden boy-pussy for all this work you're putting in..."

I want to explain to Cedric that it's more than just sex. I want to explain to him about Piece making me drink something. Piece Aniston. It's a strange name for a strange boy. And I want to know more about him. I want to know everything there is to know about him.

"I'll let you know if I find out," I laugh.

"Good luck."

With that Cedric walks away.

A part of me feels lonely in this cold building. There is nothing really friendly about this building. What the fuck could possibly be taking them until late at night to meet about? I was in the lobby most of the day checking the camera system. I would have known if they left. They stuck out like a sore thumbs. It's not like I would have missed them.

They didn't leave.

I'm sure of it.

I find myself almost dozing off a little bit when I hear a ball. Strange. It's a baseball. It's bouncing up and down the hallway. It's bouncing like a basketball would.

What the fuck?

I look around. The security guard isn't paying attention. He's a little busy. I don't know what leads me to follow the baseball but I just find it odd. Since when does a baseball bounce like that?

I follow the baseball outside. It's still bouncing...it's still rolling. It rolls underneath a boot of someone who is standing out there. As my eyes look up I recognize the face. It's the face of Mal Tiffany. Only it isn't Mal Tiffany. It's the girl that looks just like her.

It's her twin sister...

"They aren't going to come out," she explains, "If you're waiting on them."

"Excuse me?" I ask.

"You're waiting on them right. Victoria and her people. You've been here for hours waiting for them. And I've been here for hours waiting on you."

She's gorgeous. Tall and lean. She's exactly like her sister. Only she doesn't seem as cold as her sister did. This girl seems care free and not uptight. She picks up the baseball with her hands. She throws it in the air and catches it a few time. Her nails are chipped. She has a little bit of acne. She doesn't try to hide it under any make up at all. The only thing she has on is some cheap looking lip gloss.

She's no where near as perfect as Mal Tiffany, but she's still beautiful in her own way. She has a natural look about her.

And even with her natural look there is something still strange about her. Something I can't put my finger on.

"Who are you?"

"The name is Tonnet Tiffany," she states, "Think you met my sister."

I hesitate for a minute, "If meeting is what you call it. It was more of an interrogation."

"Sounds like her..." she says.

She isn't the least bit confused.

"Why were you waiting for me?" I ask her.

"Huh?"

"You said you were waiting for me for hours. Why were you waiting for me?"

"I wanted to show you something," she explains and smiles.

"What?"

"This---"

She throws the baseball. I don't expect it. I don't expect the amount of force she's throwing it with. My reflexes kick in and I throw my hands in the air to block my face. I expect to be hit in the face with the baseball. But a few seconds pass and I realize the baseball hasn't touched me.

I remove my hands from my face and my mouth drops...

The ball is just...in the air!

It's just floating there. In mid air. No one is touching it.

"What the---oh my---how the fuck are you doing that?" I ask her.

Tonnet Tiffany smiles at me. It's a knowing smile. She knew I was going to have a reaction to this. This ball if floating in mid air inches away from my face. It's suspended there. It won't move. I feel like I'm seeing some sort of magic trick or something.

"I'm not doing anything," Tonnet Tiffany tells me, "You are..."

"What's happening..."

At that moment the ball drops to the floor in a thud as though it was never suspended in the air in the first place. I'm standing there looking at the ball roll back to Tiffany like a dog being called back to his owner. Tiffany picks up the ball.

She shows it to me as though showing me a path to something I'm not sure I want to see.

"If you want to know what's happening follow me," she tells me, "I'll explain everything..."

To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com