“They call me Superman,
I'm here to rescue you
I wanna save you, girl,
Come be in Shady's world”
Boom. Story time.
Names have been changed to protect individuals’ identities and there will be some exaggerations for dramatic effect. However, this piece is based on a true story – one that happened JUST last week.
So I’m at home, in the middle of a FaceTime Shoot (yes, those are real – hit me up if you’re interested) and I get a call from my home-girl’s mom. She’s trying to find out if I’d heard from Melissa today because she took some pills for a migraine this morning and no one has heard from her since. Mom’s worried, so I suggest she calls Melissa’s cousin Jane and have her go down the road to check on her (they live close).
Got back to my shoot and I’m knocking out these fire shots and my phone rings again [*please insert upside down smiling emoji*]. This time it’s Melissa’s sister Monique calling to ask me the exact question her mom just asked me: “Did you hear from Melissa today?” Man, no! And I just told this to your ‘muuva’. Now it seems like everyone is panicking and I have to go play Dominic Toretto/MacGyver/Superman.
Monique tells me they’d contacted Jane to go down the road to check on Melissa, but she could not get into the gate. Urgh, fine, I guess I’ll speed over there and check what’s going on. I put on my skinny jeans, throw on a shirt, grab my mask (CORONAVIRUS) and I go out the door. Along the way, I try calling Castel (only real name being used) just in case I’ll need backup, but he’s too good to answer my calls these days! LOL! I also call Jane to find out exactly where the house is (I know the area, but not the exact location).
I reach the house in two shakes of a leg. As I’m pulling up, I see Jane by the road next to the gate that I need to scale to get into the yard. I pull up next to her, jamming brakes and screeching tires… EERRRRT. I stick the car in park, pull the handbrakes up, open the door aggressively and exit the car leaving it in the middle of the street.
Jane is halfway through her sentence telling me that she’s awaiting permission from the authorities to enter the yard just as I’m landing gracefully on two feet on the other side of the gate. [See, while she was stringing words together, I was making my way over the gate. Hand here, feet there, *this is why pull-ups are important*, *don’t fall and look stupid*!]
KNOCK! KNOCK! That's the sound of da police!
The way I was “pungin dung” that door and those windows – there was no was Melissa wasn’t hearing me on the inside. Jane eventually jumps the fence and comes to assist me. Melissa’s car is in the driveway and her mask is hanging in her kitchen window; she has to be in there. And the fact that there was no response to our knocking, banging, slamming and calling out, it was easy to think the worst.
I was on the phone with Demi, Melissa’s other sister and Jane was on a video-call with Monique and their mom. I told them that I could get into the apartment, but I would have to break a window. If one of them was willing to pay for the damages, we’d be in the apartment in the next 60 seconds.
Just then the neighbour comes home. There is a door from their apartment into Melissa’s.
I’m like, “Miss, this is an emergency, could you please open the door so that we can see if Melissa is okay? Or… I can SMASH this window to get in!?” She kindly gets the keys and opens the door; Jane and I fly into the apartment…
Guys…
Melissa isn’t at home. LOL! A friend had come to scoop her earlier in the day. We’d just caused a scene for nothing, but if you ever need saving, you know who to call.
Talk about a cliff-hanger….
*Yo, Siri, play Superman by Eminem*
