Rehab ~part 3

Keisha was texting Paulie, the guy she was to be engaged to after she completes her
degree in drama... She didn't know if she really liked Paulie... As in, Paulie was going to be the
district attorney of Manhattan in a couple of years, and he was tall and rich, but Keisha never
really felt anything about him deep down... But she was always obedient, and knew that her
brother loved her and had probably chosen Paulie, his friend, to be Keisha's groom quite wisely...
"Keisha! Hurry up, we're gonna be late!" shouted Cathy...
"I'm already dressed, moron!"
"You're gonna wear a sweater and jeans to a party?? Oh you're so boring!"
One of their female friends came to pick them up...
At the party, Keisha sat at a corner and took out a small novel she'd brought with her... She
loved taking books wherever she went, as she was not really keen on mixing with people... Even
in just a sweater and jeans, she looked beautiful, with her golden brown long hair and big brown
doe eyes, and some guys couldn't take their eyes off her...
Cathy looked quite pretty in her red dress too, and she went out to socialize and mingle and
probably manage a date...
There was some good music on, but suddenly someone came up and put up loud and hard
rap music with beats, and everyone started dancing to it... As for Keisha, she was starting to hate
this party... When she looked up to see who changed the music, she saw Brian's brother CJ, with
the uncultured guy from the library, near the music console, dancing and shaking their head with
a CD in his hand...
"So, that guy was CJ's friend... No wonder he's like that..." thought Keisha, and left...
At the backyard garden of Brian's garden, she sat down and texted Cathy, "Call me up
when you're done partying, and we'll go home, I'm at the backyard"
And she got back to reading her novel
Suddenly, "Hey"...
Keisha looked up, and it was him...
"Hey, sorry for this morning, alright? I shouldn't really have texted with my sound on... Sorry"
"At least he has the decency of apologizing", Keisha thought...
"It's okay..."
"Hey what're you reading? 'The Count of Monte Cristo', hey I've read that!"
"You... Read books?"
"Used to... Not anymore"
"You don't really appear to be the... Book reading type"
"Heh! Yeah... I know... Used to read a lot until I dropped outta high school"
"Oh... Okay.."
"By the way, myself Mick Wallace"..
"Keisha Caine... So, tell me, what're you doing outside? I mean, all your friends are inside...
Hell, you even changed the music"
"Actually... I don't really love crowds... Changing the music, that was my idea, CJ did the
needful... I actually wanted to bring some life into the party... I mean, the thing that was being
played before, it was so dumb.. Don't you think?"
"The dumb music, was the recording of a violin maestro..."
Mick stared at her for a moment and said, "Oh... Didn't know, sorry"... Keisha giggled, and
Mick felt it was the sweetest music on earth... Probably...
Keisha, just in an intention to tease him, said, "I can see a lot of girls around in this party, still
you don't like this?"
"Nyaah... Being in relationships is not really my thing... People have changed these days,
they're not like they used to be... Everything is so temporary, or is complicated... Me, I don't do
temporary or complicated, if I know she's the one, she's gonna be the one... That's what I believe
in"
Keisha listened to him, silently... Perhaps he's not as bad as he appears, as in, other than his
blue eyes, his features are tough and rugged, and he probably didn't shave in a decade...
But when he talks, he makes sense...
"What the hell are you doing, Keisha?? Stop staring at him!" She told herself, almost in
whisper, which was audible to him...
"What?" Mick asked..
"Nothing, I mean... You've still got that bandage on your left hand.. What happened there?"
"Oh, this? It's from a fight.."
"Fight?"

Rehab, part 2

"Yeah"....
" Be a good kid, Wallace... You need some education "
Mick entered the library, his face bore the most disappointed look ...
He had never been to a library ever since he dropped out of high school...
He surfed through the book shelves, picked up a book on history of martial arts and began
reading... After two pages, he felt like the most depressed person on earth...
He took out his phone, and started texting his friends to see if there was any party around
After a while, he felt a tap on his shoulder...
"Excuse me?" It was a female voice
"Would you mind keeping your phone on silent mode? Or would you mind just leaving the
library??"
"Excuse me, miss? The faint sound of texting disturbs you?? Why don't you get a life?? What
the hell are h you doing reading in a fucking library?? You want peace?? Go to a cemetery and
read! But I WILL KEEP TEXTING! You know why?? Because this book (waving the book in front
of her ) is bloody boring as hell!!
"My mistake... I should've never talked to you, given the fact that you're uncultured... So much so that you don't even know library is for reading books and not for texting..."
"Excuse me, Uncultured??"
"Definitely! The bandage on your hand, it's from fighting... Definitely you're a goon or some hood
gangster.."
By this time, the librarian arrived, for they were practically screaming... "Out! Both of
you!"
"Why should I leave?? Ask him to leave!"
"Yo, in case you don't get it miss morality, I was gonna leave anyway... Huh!"
Mick left the library... The girl still stood there, fuming, watching him leave... And then she
came back to her desk
"Keisha, on a different note, he was kinda hot though..."
"Shut up Cathy... He was a lout.."
"Yeah, but... Bad boys have their own swagger, you know"
"Should I just go home and tell mom you're attracted to goons now?"
"Hey, relax sis... I didn't mean that... I just... Leave"
Though Keisha scolded Cathy, her sister, for showing interest in that guy and threatened to
kill her when Cathy said ....
"we should find out more about him, probably grab coffee together",
Keisha couldn't help thinking about him...
"An uncultured fellow", she thought..
"Keisha! I just forgot! We gotta go to Brian's party this evening! Gosh! I haven't even been to
the parlor yet! And there's gonna be like, a hundred guys!"
"Jesus, Cathy! They're not coming there to see you... It's just a normal house party"
"Hey, you don't need to dress up because your engagement is fixed already, but I need to
find someone to get engaged to... So, please"
Mick walked back to his home... Ran, actually... The morning was terrible, thanks to that
irritating girl from the library, he didn't want to miss the little backyard basketball match with his
buddies...
"Yo! Here comes, tough guy Wallace!"
"Ey, he doesn't look like he's in his best mood"
"Yo Mick! What up?? Store sold you stale milk or something? Hahaha!"
"Ha ha! Very funny, bitches... I had a bad fucking morning is all"
"Hey, what's up man? Cmon share with us"
"So I was at the library..."
"Wait, what?? Library?? Like, with books and shit? The fuck, man?! What's wrong with you??"
"Yeah, it was all Antwon's idea... And there I am, bored to death, when I was texting some of
my boys, if there's a party around... Well, you guys know CJ, right? He said his brother Brian's
hosting a party, so I was just confirming that I'mma be there when this girl comes outta nowhere
and tells me the sound of texting irritates her! Tf, man?! I didn't go for a long quarrel and then this fat librarian comes up and asks me to leave... And, that's all"
"Ha ha! She's a stupid bitch she is.." Said one of his friends...
"Nyah, she don't look like no bitch... I mean not the 'bitch' bitch type.. But she was irritating for
real..."
"Yo, what was she like, man? I mean..."
"Fuck you, dawg! I don't wanna see her face again, that's all I know"

Rehab~ a story about life, by me... Part 1

"I need to talk to you... Meet me up at Chevy's restaurant... It's urgent", the SMS read...
Mick didn't know how to feel...
It's been ages since he had last met Keisha... And then, after all this time, a text from her... What
could it be?
She looked so pretty, and like always, she was before time...
"It's all gone, buddy... She's gone... Behave" Mick told himself...
"Hi"...
" Sit down ", she looked serious and tensed...
In a flash, Mick saw the wedding ring on her hand... It had a diamond.. "Damn! That Paulie, or
whatever his name is, he's really big time rich!" Mick thought...
She was silent for sometime...
"So... How's life? How're you?" Mick tried to start up a conversation...
In reply, Keisha looked at the bandages on Mick's hand and said "You still fighting?"
"Yeah.. Got a tournament coming up... Plus there's some more underground fights coming up..."
Mick replied feebly, though he wanted to say "FIGHTING IS WHAT HELPS ME KEEP MY MIND
OFF YOU, AND FOCUS ON LIFE, DON'T YOU GET IT??"
"You still fight underground?" Keisha asked...
"Yeah... Underground is good... Helps me get some more cash... Hehe"
"Okay... Now.. Why I called you here... It's grave... I'm.. I'm pregnant.."
Mick stood dumb for some time... "Well... What should I say? You're married for a year now...
This is only normal... Why call me here to tell me this? Congrats!"
"I called you here because, I've been married only five months... And I don't let Paulie touch
me... I told you, Mick... I won't let any other man touch me..."
Mick was now blown…
"Do you mean...?"
"Yes, it's your kid"
"Fuck, does Paulie know?"
"Not yet"
Then Keisha said, "I only thought I should tell you this... I won't put you into trouble, Mick... I'll
make something up.." She glanced at her watch... "Christ! I'm late... Bye.. Best of luck for your
fight..." And she left in a hurry...
Mick stood there for a while... All he wanted to say was "I can keep the child if you want"...
Then he left for his training session... He had to work out to get this event outta his head...
Keisha crossed the road... Then from the opposite sidewalk, saw Mick walking back, across
the afternoon crowd... She wore her sunglasses back to hide her tears and in a broken voice
whispered, more to herself than to him, "I love you, Mick Wallace".
"Mr Wallace? Mr Wallace? Sign here, please?" The jail warden said... Mick snapped back to
present day.
"You're a lucky man.. You beat up a fellow to pulp, sent him to a coma, robbed him, took his car
and got out only after serving 18 years..." the jailor said, spat on the Street and opened the gate...
Mick went to speedy's pub, a favorite haunt of his...
"Lookie who's here, people! It's Mick "hard-hitter" Wallace! Welcome back, buddy!"
"Hey Seb... At least you haven't changed..”
Seb, the bartender, gave Mick a drink... It was closing time, so there weren't any much people
around... While drinking, Mick saw a young couple... And Mick went back to his old days….
"Good show, Wallace! Keep this rage up!" Those were the days when Mick was just started
to emerge as the "toughest guy on the block" in underground mixed martial art fights...
"Good fight, Wallace"
"Whoa, Antwon! It's not everyday you praise me!"
Antwon was a good man, Mick had been training under him since when he was a teenager...
And he had become this good at his fighting skills because of Antwon...
"Listen up, lad... No man becomes great without education in his respective field... So I want
you to go to the library, and read about this what you're practicing... Read about fighting skills,
and their history"...
This was the third time Antwon was telling this, but Mick had always considered the library a
place for nerds, and hence excessively boring...
But this time, Antwon was being persistent...
"Ugh! Alright alright! I'll go... Jeez! What's wrong with you?" Mick replied...
Reluctantly, Mick stood outside the library...
"You there?" Antwon called on his phone...