by Tiana Laveen
They might be asleep. Don’t want to startle them.
Suddenly, a light came on in the living room.
“Frank, someone’s at the door.”
He smiled when he heard her sweet little voice.
“Grandma, it’s me! Hunter…” he called out.
“It’s Hunter,” Grandpa repeated. The man could barely hear, but he’d heard him just fine. Moments later, the little old lady opened the door, smiling up at him with her eyes twinkling behind a pair of thick glasses.
“Hi, Grandma.”
“Come on in here! You could’ve used your key, Hunter,” she chastised with a smile as she shut the door and locked it. “Go on and have a seat! Let me get you something to eat and drink. Nice to see you tonight.”
“Grandma, that’s not necessary. I’m not staying long. I just wanted to tell you both to your face that I love you. I wanted to tell you that you did good by me, but I didn’t do well by you. I’ve had a lot of time to think in prison, especially this last time, and a lot has happened since I’ve been out that has made me realize I need to… to tell you both that I’m sorry for the shit I took you two through when I was growin’ up. I knew better. I just didn’t care.” He hung his head and swallowed his emotions.
“Hunter…” Grandma whispered.
“No, it’s true. I understand that now. Your daughter, my mother, had been murdered by the very man you welcomed into the family and if that wasn’t bad enough, at the time, you were trying to raise their child, and I showed little to no appreciation.” The two looked at each other, dumbfounded. “I know this seems out of left field, but I love you both so much… You have no idea. I’ve got a good job now, like I told you at the casino.” Grandpa nodded, looking pleased. “I’m boxing again. A lot of things are going on… good things. I’m with a beautiful, nice lady; you know, I already told you about her. My lady, Nita – well, her name is Anita, but we all call her Nita – and she’s good for me, not bringing me down.” Grandma smiled wide. “She’s a good woman, far better than I deserve.”
“We can’t wait to meet her, Hunter,” Grandpa said, his smile growing by the second.
“I want to give you this.” He pulled out his wallet. “I was going to try to come up here this weekend but I don’t know,” he shrugged as he fiddled through the leather folds, “I was working on the car, my thoughts were racing and just felt like seeing you right now.” He slapped some money in his grandfather’s hand. “There’s no way I could repay you all for the attorneys you hired over the years, the counselors, your time, all of that. You spent practically half your life savings trying to help me but this is at least a start. I don’t make as much as I’d like, but it’s enough to start paying you all some money. Each month you’ll get more from me. That’s a promise. You two should be in Hawaii on vacation or something, enjoying your golden years. Because of me, your money is kind of tight and I can’t let you live like that. I’ve been spending a lot of money trying to get back on track with some things, but I’m going to do something about this, too.” His grandmother’s eyes watered and her bottom lip started quivering.
He gently pulled her towards him and deposited a kiss on her cheek, then took his grandfather in his arms and hugged him, too.
“I don’t know what to say!” Grandpa chuckled. Grandma sniffled.
“Don’t start crying, Grandma.” He hugged her again, and patted her back. He gave her another kiss, then headed towards the front door. “I’ll be back soon. Going to bring Nita with me to meet you, just like I said.” He reached for the doorknob.
“Hunter.”
“Yes?” He looked over his shoulder at his grandmother.
“It doesn’t matter that you were a handful. We forgave you a long time ago. You say you knew better, but that’s not true in each and every case. I know that; I could look at you and see you had no idea what you were doing sometimes, boy. You were broken, through no fault of your own. You made some awful choices in life, but we never blamed you completely. Your mother didn’t do you right. We’re not faultless, either; we could’ve done some things differently with you, too. No one is perfect, but we tried. We weren’t… we weren’t equipped to handle the type of help you needed. It was above us. I was naïve enough back then to believe that love and prayer alone would heal you. You’d seen too much… been through too much, though. It would take a long time to get you to feel good about yourself and stop acting out, but we knew you were worth it… you are our grandson… we love you!” A tear traced her cheek as she spoke. “We appreciate this gesture, but we don’t want your money. Frank, give it back to him.”
“What? Like hell we don’t! I’m holding on to this. This boy, God bless you, Hunter, but you bled us dry with your shit! Attorneys! Bails bondsmen! Loan officers! The police were at our door more than they were down at the precinct eating donuts! We shoulda let them sleep in the guest room they came so damn much. We were on a first name basis with all of them! Besides, I need a new pair of tennis shoes and the doctor is chargin’ an arm and a leg for that snore contraption and what about—”
“Shut up, Frank! Give it back to him right now. You should be ashamed!” Grandma barked. Hunter tamped down a wave of laughter. “I’m tryna tell our grandson something important!” She wore a sincere and solemn expression now.
“I’m not taking it back, Grandma. If you make me, I’ll just mail it.” Grandpa stood to the side of her, counting the money with a big smile on his face like some rap star in a music video.
“Hunter…”
“Yes, Grandma?”
“The best way you can pay us back, honey, is to just be happy…” She smiled at him sadly, shaking her head. “All we want is for you to have everything you ever wanted, and to finally be at peace…”
“I don’t think this is a good idea, Hunter.” Nita pulled the tape from one side of the box to the other, thankful she only had a few more to go. The moving truck would be there in a few hours.
I’ll be taking my last shower here today. I can’t believe it.
She smiled sadly.
“This fight is important, Nita. I could make a lot of money in just one night.”
“But it’s against your contract. If Johnny finds out about this, he’s going to be furious.”
“It’s a one-time lick. I get in, get out. It’s at this mansion over in Arden Park Blvd. I’ve done the research, found out who the owner is, all that shit. Check this out, baby. They’ve got the area set up and I’m assured to make fifteen thousand dollars. These bastards bet big and they love a nasty fight, especially heavy-weights. Do you know what we could do with that money?”
“Money isn’t going to help us if you’re dead, Hunter.”
“Well, at least it’ll pay for the funeral.”
“Not funny.”
“You’re being dramatic. It’s a routine fight, not a poisonous snake eating contest.”
“What if they treat this like some Roman Colosseum stuff, ‘Till the Death’ Barbarian type bullshit? You know these super rich old people get off on that crazy mess! They get bored, Hunter – don’t know what to do with their money and start buying strange snuff films, having golden shower parties, rabid squirrel fights and pitting ex-cons against one another for pure joy. You’re not an animal, but that’s how they probably see you. Like you’re feral or something! What if they put you in there with a maniac?”
“What if they put me in there with a mirror? I’ll crush it.” She grimaced at his little joke, and went to tape up another box. “You have a really vivid imagination… Bring more of that into the bedroom.” He winked. She sucked her teeth.
“Tisha and Olive should’ve been back by now. It doesn’t take that long to get donuts and coffee from the store.” She huffed. “Anyway, I don’t know about this, Hunter. It sounds suspicious.”
“It probably is, and I may tell Johnny anyway, but I’m doing it regardless, and I’m going to get what Ricky promised me, too.” He walked out of the living room and into the kitchen,
while she mulled the words he’d just said, confused. Just then, her doorbell rang. “I thought you said the movers wouldn’t be here for a few hours?” Hunter hollered.
“It’s not them. Lance wanted to take Tisha to the movies.” She waited for Hunter to say something slick, but she didn’t hear a word. Now she was truly concerned. She walked to the door and opened it.
“Hi, Lance.” She gave the man a quick hug then let him inside.
“Heeey.” He unzipped his coat and flashed a huge smile. “So you’re really moving, huh?” He looked around at all of the boxes. “Good for you.”
“Yup! We’re going! Super excited. Tisha and Olive will be back in a bit. Olive can stay and help me finish up.”
“Actually, I’ll take both of them. Is that cool?”
“Really? Okay, then! I’m sure they’d like that. They are like peas in a pod.”
“How’s Olive been holding up? I know things have been hard.”
“Oh, she’s doing pretty well, despite it all. I’m proud of her.”
“So, uh, the whole Arizona thing… We—”
Hunter appeared from the kitchen like some bat hanging on the ceiling. He practically fluttered in, black-winged and creepy, and glued himself like a fixture, unable to be missed. The big man leaned against the doorway, shirt off, tattoos in full view, looking vexed. The testosterone pumping in the room practically choked her.
“Oh… uh, you must be Hunter?” Lance asked, walking over to him, his hand extended.
Hunter gave him the once over real slow, sporting a cocky smirk, then shook his hand.
“Yeah, I’m Hunter.” He held the man’s hand a tad too long, and she could see Lance was in pain when the bastard really gave it a good squeeze.
I should’ve known he wasn’t going to act right.
“Hunter… Hunter…” she warned with a tight smile on her face. Hunter took his time to lessen his grip and release the man, and Lance tried to play it off, as if nothing had happened whatsoever.
“Hunter, I think me and you may have gotten off on the wrong foot, some sort of misunderstanding.”
“No. I understood it just fine.”
“No, see, Anita and I are friends, not just co-parents.” Lance threw her a smile, then turned back to Hunter. “We confide in one another and I meant nothing by what I said to her a while back, all right? I was just upset, and it came out. Simple as that. I care for Anita a great deal, but would never really believe that she and I would reunite in a romantic way.”
“Okay.” Hunter revealed a dark smile, his eyes turning to green slits. He slid a cigarette out his pocket, cocked his head and lit that shit with a silver lighter. Blowing smoke out the side of his mouth, he grinned wider. A wicked, evil smile – the kind that meant trouble in a handbasket.
“Hunter, don’t—”
“It’s cool…” Hunter winked at her.
It’s over… Please do not let them start fighting! I’m going to have to try and break these two up…
“Nita is a good woman, Lance. I know you two have history. Do you like history? You know, stories about old places, old things, and dead people?”
Lance chuckled nervously and shot her a look as if to say, ‘Is this motherfucker dangerous?’
“Uh, yeah, history is fine. So, uh, Tisha told me you work as a security guard down at the casino?”
“Nah. I’m in training to be a security officer. Those are two different things,” Hunter rubbed his nose as if curing an itch. “And I’m a boxer, too. I knock guys out for fun. Did Tisha tell you that, too?”
“Yeah, she did.” Lance crossed his arms and stood to his full height, clearly refusing to go down without a fight.
Lance… don’t do this… you don’t want to do this… You’re straight-laced and reasonable. Hunter is, well… Hunter.
“I know karate, Hunter. I’m a blue belt.”
“Ahhh, blue belt,” Hunter rocked back on his heels, clearly making fun. “Isn’t that usually achieved by seventh graders?”
Damn it.
“Some, not all. I had to stop but I take my son, well, step-son, to karate practice, too.”
“Yeah, karate is good, Lance. Great sport there…” An awkward silence stretched between the two. “Too bad though that if two fists come flyin’ at you at warp speed, you’ll be too busy kickin’ it in a coma, doing the crouching tiger from the emergency room.”
“Hunter, let’s just cut to the chase.” Lance cleared his throat, clearly fed up. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, what your deal is, but you’re standing here, sayin’ little things in a threatening manner.”
Hunter feigned a shocked expression and pointed at himself.
“Who? Me? No, no, no.” He laughed. “I’d never threaten you, man. I made you a promise.”
“Hunter, stop it.”
Lance turned to her and put up his hand to stop her. “No, Nita. This conversation needs to be had. Now look, man, I could be pissed about the fact that my ex has my child around a damn ex-con. I could make a big deal about that, and other shit I’ve heard about you, too, but I didn’t,” Lance stated sternly. “I trust Nita’s judgement, but this situation is definitely not ideal. I want peace though. LaTisha likes you, so that’s good, but honestly, I don’t want my daughter around you. Nevertheless, she said you’ve been nice and helpful to her. I know you’re upset about my relationship with Nita, but I’m not trying to interfere with her private life. I didn’t know she had a boyfriend when you heard us on the phone… well, I knew she was seeing someone at the time, but I didn’t know it was that serious.”
“But you knew you had a wife, right?”
Nita shook her head and turned away.
“Man, that’s none of your business. It’s a private matter but yeah, I’m having some marital issues. That aside, I would never cross that line.”
Hunter rolled his eyes.
“You already did. The only reason why it didn’t go any further is because Nita told you that wasn’t going to happen.”
“I want Nita to be happy, just like you do, so for her sake and the sake of our daughter, let you and me call a truce, all right?”
Hunter shrugged and tapped his ashes into an ashtray on the kitchen counter. “Let me tell you something about me. I’m a doer. I also have a past, like everyone else. You’ve got a past, too, so bringing up my time in prison isn’t helping you right now. No, you weren’t incarcerated, but you did a lotta shady shit and if being a punk ass bitch was a crime, you’d be on death row.”
“You crazy son of a bitch! I’ll have you know—”
“STOP! Oh, Lord… Hunter…” She rolled her eyes. “You two need to stop. This is ridiculous!”
“Nita, I’m just saying Lance here tried to mention that, bring it up like he’s doing me a favor, tolerating me. Tisha may be disturbed to know some of the shit her dear ol’ dad has done, too, so don’t try to present yourself like some upstanding citizen when we’ve all fucked up in life. And when we have to answer for it, just because I was behind bars but you were in someone else’s draws doesn’t make you any better than me, all right? Blue belt! What a joke!” Hunter sucked his teeth and made his way past Lance, moving as if he were going to knock into him. Instead, he just headed to the stairs and stomped up them.
The tension was thick, tight and high. Nita clasped her hands together and her ex shrugged.
“You’ve got a real prize there.” Lance huffed, then laughed dismally. “The guy before him wasn’t much better. Damn, Nita. What do you see in him?”
“A lot. I see a lot in him, Lance.”
“But he’s a thug. A White thug at that. It seems Tisha thinks he is fantastic! I can’t see why.”
“He actually is. He’s smart, resourceful, and has a great heart. He overreacted but you just got under his skin.”
“How could you tell? It’s covered in freakin’ tattoos!”
“Come on now, Lance.” She smiled. “You know you egged him on, too. You knew what you were
doing. You two were having a pissing contest but at least that’s over with now.” The man snorted. “You both are good men, just different. I know Hunter. This is the end of this – he had his say and now he can move on. Anyway, have a seat. Let me get you something to drink. Lemonade good?”
“Oh, I love your lemonade. Definitely.”
Just as she was entering the kitchen, Olive and Tisha came trouncing through the front door.
“Oh! Hey, Daddy.” She gave her father a kiss on the cheek.
“Hey, baby. Let’s get ready to go. The movie will be starting soon. Olive, do you want to come with us?”
“Oh, sure! Thanks!”
“Here are your donuts, Mama.”
“Thank you.” Nita returned from the kitchen and took the bag from her daughter and the coffee from Olive. “Go on and get your overnight bag, Tisha, then in the morning, Hunter and I will pick you up and bring you to the new house. By then, your beds will be set up. Olive, you pack an overnight bag, too, since you’re going.”
“Okay!” The girls went upstairs, and all was quiet once more.
“Nita.” Lance followed her into the kitchen. “I’m glad you got a new house in a better part of town, with a good school system. Even though Tisha is almost finished, it’ll still make her senior year all the more special. I’m serious. This is great. I’m really, really happy for you.”
“I know you are.” She pulled out a pitcher of lemonade and began to pour it in a glass for him.
“All jokes aside and despite the argument he and I got into, I can say Hunter is a lucky man. I’m saying that not because I want what is now his, but because I appreciate how far we’ve both come.”
She handed him the lemonade and as he sipped it, she blinked back tears of appreciation.
“Thank you, Lance.”
“Awww, how touching!” These words were followed by Hunter’s slow clapping. The sound came from a distance, as if he were at the top of the steps. “I’m a White thug, huh?”
“That’s right! I said it!” Lance yelled out, his eyes now gleaming with rage.