by K'wan
“I—”
“Shut up . . . Don’t you say another fucking word!” Willie shook Jonas like a rag doll. “I don’t know what kind of hopscotch shit you and your boys play on them crack-corners, but this ain’t it. When we erase a muthafucka, everybody goes. I don’t give a shit if it’s the nigga’s granny. They get caught out of bounds, they’re dead—or we are! Now, Lou may think that you’re hot shit, but I ain’t convinced. If you ain’t got the stomach to dance with a man like Lou Ceaver, then I suggest you get off the floor before the record stops spinning. If not, you’re sure as shit going to wish you had before it’s all said and done.”
Chapter Thirty-three
The hit at Flair’s had rattled Jonas. Probably more so than he had let on. Jonas had shot men before, but the game of extermination was something different. He could still see Willie moving through the brownstone shooting people like fish in a barrel. Then there was the girl, the one from his dream. Willie blew her wig off without so much as a second thought. Jonas had always fancied himself a seasoned killer, but he was small potatoes when compared to One-Eye Willie.
Willie drove him to an apartment where he made Jonas shower and change. He took the clothes they’d been wearing and the pistols and packed them up to be properly disposed of. He hardly said two words to Jonas on the ride back home. Willie was pissed, and rightfully so. Jonas’s sense of morality had caused him to hesitate, and it had almost gotten him killed.
“I’ll explain to Lou what happened,” Jonas said when Willie dropped him on the corner of his block. He knew the detective wouldn’t be happy about how he had conducted himself on his first paid contract, but it was better that he heard it from him instead of Willie.
For a minute, Willie didn’t respond. He just sat there, both hands locked tightly on the steering wheel like he was trying to compose himself. “Leave it be, kid. What happens on the field stays on the field.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me now. Thank me in five years if you find that you haven’t found that swallowing a bullet is a better option than doing what will be required of you in the service of Lou Ceaver. If you can hold it together that long, thank me then.” Willie peeled off.
When Jonas got upstairs to his floor, he was surprised to find Jewels sitting on the steps. He took one look at her and knew something was wrong. She looked tired, and dark circles were around her eyes. She held a bottle of Hennessy in one hand and a Newport in the other. Jewels didn’t smoke cigarettes.
“What it do?” he greeted her.
“Does it still matter to you?” she replied, instead of giving the customary response.
“Damn, you’re acting like I kicked your dog or something. Fuck is your problem?” Jonas didn’t feel like getting into it with her.
“My problem is that I’ve been trying to reach you, and you’re looping me like I’m some chickenhead trying to find out why you never called after fucking me,” she snapped.
“Well, I’ve been busy.”
“So, I’ve heard,” Jewels said. Jonas knew from that, that she had been talking to Ace.
“A’ight, so what’s so important that you been blowing my phone up?” he asked, wanting to cut straight to the chase. He didn’t have time for Jewels and her emotional shit. He’d almost lost his life, so whatever was eating at her failed in comparison.
“My uncle died yesterday,” she said with a heavy heart.
“Moe?” Jonas immediately felt like shit for the way he had been treating her. “What happened?”
“He’s gone, Wrath,” Jewels said with a heavy heart. “He had a heart attack. Shit took him out.”
“Damn, I’m sorry, Jewels.” Jonas hugged her to him. He was truly sad to hear about Fat Moe. He had been a good man. “You okay?”
“No, I’m fucked up. My uncle was all I had in this world. Now that he’s gone, I’m all alone,” she sobbed.
“You’re not alone, Jewels. You still got me,” Jonas told her.
“Yeah, when you have time to pencil me in. I really needed you, Wrath, and you ducked me. That shit is foul.”
“Jewels, I wasn’t ducking you. I was just . . . never mind. It’s not even important. You look like shit. Have you eaten anything?”
“No, been me and the dog for the last two days.” Jewels hoisted the bottle of Hennessey.
“Well, how about you give the dog a rest for a minute and put something on your stomach?” Jonas plucked the bottle from her hand. “My mom is cooking. Come eat with us.”
“Nah, y’all don’t need my depressed ass around right now. Go be with your family,” she told him.
“You are my family, Jewels. Come have dinner with us; then I’ll help you start putting things in order for Fat Moe.”
When Jonas walked in with Jewels, he found Anette and Jo-Jo setting the table. Janette was in the kitchen finishing up dinner, but she wasn’t alone. Sweets was helping her. She had made good on her promise and showed up. Her eyes lit up when she saw Jewels.
“Hey, stranger!” Sweets hugged Jewels. They had always been close. They spent a lot of time together back when Sweets was learning how to cook from Fat Moe.
“Hi, Sweets.” Jewels did a poor job of hiding the sadness in her voice.
“What’s wrong?” Sweets asked.
“I lost my uncle yesterday.”
“Oh my God!” Sweets gasped. “I’m so sorry to hear it. I didn’t even know Moe was sick.”
“None of us did. I guess he’d been sick for a while but hid it,” Jewels said.
“Well, you know if you need help with anything, I’m here for you. Money to pay for the funeral, support . . . Whatever you need, I got you,” Sweets told her.
“Thanks.” Jewels mustered a weak smile.
“Ma, is it okay if Jewels eats with us?” Jonas asked.
“Of course. Just have Josette set another place at the table,” Janette said. “Now, the two of you go wash your hands. Knowing y’all, ain’t no telling where they’ve been.”
* * *
Dinner at the Rafferty house turned out to be quite memorable. Not just because Janette had put her foot in the food . . . fried chicken, baked macaroni and cheese, collard greens, and corn bread, but because, for once, they seemed like a real family. Everybody was there . . . except for Yvette. As usual, she was out somewhere running the streets. It saddened Janette that she hadn’t bothered to show up, but she tried not to let it dampen the mood.
Jo-Jo told them all about her adventures in school that day, including the wig-snatching incident with the teacher. Jewels roared with laughter when Jo-Jo got up and did the reenactment. Jonas was glad to see her smiling.
As they ate, they talked. Everybody went around the table and shared their blessings and good things that they had going on in their lives. Jo-Jo was doing well in school, as was Anette. She had raised her GPA to a 3.7 and stood a good chance at getting a scholarship to a four-year school of her choice. She had been seriously considering UCLA. Janette didn’t want her going so far away to school, but she understood her daughter’s need to spread her wings. Jonas kept waiting for Sweets to break the news about her deciding to go back to school, but she hadn’t yet. He figured she was just waiting for the right time.
“So, Jewels, when are you and my brother gonna get married?” Jo-Jo asked, quite unexpectedly.
The question caught Jonas so off guard that he almost spit his Kool-Aid out. “Girl, stop talking crazy.”
“I’m not talking crazy. When people love each other, they usually get married. I know you two love each other because of how you’re always looking at each other. Been a long time since I’ve seen Jonas look at a girl like that,” Jo-Jo said with a knowing smirk.
An awkward silence fell over the table. Anette was cutting her eyes at Jonas, and for a minute, he wondered if she had revealed the secret of Alex being back in town. If she had, he would kill her for blowing up his spot.
“Josette, stay out of grown folks’ business,” Janette stepped in. S
he too had seen the look on Jonas’s face at the mention of Alex and knew something was up.
“I don’t think your brother is the marrying type. He’s got too much going on in his life for a committed relationship,” Jewels said. She too had seen the look.
“Well, he needs to stop and smell the roses. Running them streets from sun up to sun up ain’t gonna do nothing but burn you out,” Janette said.
“You tell him, Ms. Janette,” Jewels cosigned.
“That goes for you too, Jewels. Just because I ain’t out there no more doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on.” Janette gave her a look. “I think both of you need to take some time to enjoy being kids for a while, instead of being in such a rush to grow up. Adulthood will be there when you’re ready.”
“Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Jonas and Jewels together. Nothing like having a good girl in your corner who you know isn’t going to leave you when things get rough,” Sweets capped.
“I see you’re a comedian this evening, Claudette.” Jonas called her by her birth name just to irk her. “While you’re over there trying to play matchmaker when is Drew going to put a ring on your finger?”
“He’s proposed to her twice, but Sweets keeps shooting him down,” Anette volunteered. This shocked everyone at the table.
“Why is this my first time hearing about this?” Janette asked.
“Ma, it’s no big deal,” Sweets downplayed it.
“The hell it isn’t. Anytime a man proposes to one of my daughters, it’s a big deal,” Janette insisted. “Drew is doing good for himself. Why did you say no?”
Sweets shrugged. “I dunno. I’m too young. I don’t think I’m ready to be anybody’s wife.”
“But you’re ready to be his live-in girlfriend?” Jonas asked smugly.
“Me and Drew don’t live together. I just spend the night over there sometimes,” Sweets corrected him.
“You spend more time over there than you do here,” Jo-Jo added.
“Mind your own business!” Sweets snapped.
“Personally, I’m glad you said no. Drew is cool, but I don’t think he’s right for you,” Jonas said.
“And why not?” Sweets questioned.
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
“Enough, you two,” Janette interjected. “You know we don’t pass judgment in this house. Aside from Josette, I don’t think any of us are innocent.” Her gaze fell on Jonas. “Sweets, whatever you choose to do, we will support you as a family. Ain’t that right, Jonas?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he mumbled.
Chapter Thirty-four
After they ate dinner, Sweets and Jewels cleared the table while Anette put Jo-Jo to bed. She wasn’t feeling well. Jonas worried about his little sister. The treatments she was getting helped ensure that she didn’t get sicker, but they didn’t seem to be improving her condition. He had looked into getting her some specialized help, but most of the places he found didn’t accept Medicaid and charged a small fortune just to get her in the door. Jonas needed a come-up in a major way. This made him think back to Prince’s deal. If the brand blew up like Prince was predicting, then he would be able to get Jo-Jo the best of care.
“You okay?” Janette brought him out of his thoughts. She was smoking a cigarette and sipping a glass of water.
“I’m fine. Just got a lot on my mind,” he said.
“Heavy is the head,” Janette said. She took a seat on the couch next to him. “I wanna thank you for making time for us, Jonas.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Ma. I wanted to be here,” he told her.
“I wish all my children felt that way,” Janette said, thinking about Yvette.
“Don’t stress yourself over her, Ma,” Jonas said as if he could read her mind.
“Let’s see how easy it’ll be for you to say that when you have children of your own.”
“That’s something you’re never gonna have to worry about. I ain’t having no kids. I’d never curse them to this fucked-up world.”
“It ain’t the world, Jonas. It’s the people in it. You know, sometimes I look back on all the time I wasted running in the streets instead of spending it with my kids, and it breaks my heart. There is so much that I wanted to do for you all, and so many things I wanted you to experience. All that damn time wasted.” She shook her head sadly.
“You did what you could, Ma. Don’t worry about it. We’ve got plenty of time to do all that stuff still,” he assured her.
“Life ain’t forever, Jonas. We’re given very little time in this world, so we should make the most out of every precious moment,” Janette replied. There was a far-off look in her eyes.
“Ma, you’re starting to scare me.”
“I’m sorry, baby. Don’t worry about me. I just get lost in nostalgia sometimes.” Janette smiled. “So, how is she?”
“Who, Jewels?”
“We both know I’m not talking about Jewels. I mean Alex. I’m sure you’ve seen her by now,” Janette said knowingly.
Jonas thought about lying but decided against it. “Yeah, I was with her earlier,” he admitted.
Janette shook her head. “You always were like a dog on a bone when it came to her. She’s always had power over you.”
“And what makes you think she has power over me?” he asked.
“Because as soon as she comes back around, you’re suddenly blind to what you have and chasing what you want,” Janette said. “That girl Jewels loves you, Jonas. You know that, right?”
“It ain’t that serious.” Jonas downplayed it.
“For you maybe, but for her, it’s real. You can see it in her eyes when she looks at you; that longing in them. I know Jewels might not have the pedigree of Alex, but she’s a genuine soul. I hope you don’t break that girl’s heart, Jonas.”
“As my mother, you’re supposed to be on my side,” he pointed out.
“I’m your mother, but I’m a woman first. You’re old enough to where I can’t tell you where to stick your little thing, but what I will tell you is to be careful when you’re playing games of the heart.”
“Me and anybody I deal with have an understanding. They all know what it is,” Jonas said proudly.
Janette laughed. “You sound just like your dad when you say that. He thought he had all his hoes in line too, but we see how that played out.”
“How come you never talk about him?” Jonas asked.
“I guess sometimes it’s just too painful,” Janette admitted. “Zeke was a good man, but he also brought a lot of grief into this house.”
“You mean because he slept around on you?” Jonas asked. He had heard the stories about how big of a womanizer his father had been.
“A man is going to be a man, I guess. Zeke’s wandering dick was only part of the problem. He played with fire and got burned, almost burning the rest of us in the process,” Janette said angrily.
Jonas was quiet for a time. He had so many questions about his father but wasn’t quite sure how deep he wanted to dig. “What really happened to my father?” he finally asked.
Janette studied her son for what felt like an eternity. She had been dreading this day but knew it would come eventually. She didn’t want to tell him the truth but knew that she needed to. She wanted to spare her son the pain of committing the sins of his father. “I will speak about it just this once. You are never to ask me again or tell your sisters what I’m about to tell you. Do you understand?”
Jonas nodded.
Janette took a sip of her water and lit another cigarette. She needed to compose herself for the tale she was about to tell. “Well, it’s no secret that your father was in the streets. Never too heavy, but from time to time, he did what he had to do to keep food on our table. In the course of Zeke’s wheeling and dealing, he found himself hooked in with a very dangerous man. It started with Zeke doing little stuff for him here and there, but as time went on, the favors he was asking got bigger. I tried to get Zeke to cut ties with him, but by th
e time I understood what he was involved with, he was already in too deep. Eventually, Zeke did try to break away, but the man wouldn’t let him. Zeke started trying to duck him, but it never worked. The man always seemed to be able to find him, no matter which hole he crawled into. Eventually, Zeke saw only one way to break the hold the man had over him, so he ended his life.”
“Why lie to us all these years about him being killed?” Jonas asked emotionally.
“I never lied to you; I just never told you all the details. That part is true. Zeke had a nice-sized life insurance policy, but we wouldn’t have been paid a dime if he committed suicide. So he figured another way. He knew what would happen if he was ever caught with her, which is exactly why he kept going back.”
“He intentionally got the man to murder him so that you could cash in the policy?” Jonas said, with the pieces finally starting to fit.
Janette nodded. “That was Zeke for you. He could find a loophole in even the most airtight agreements. I always told him he should’ve been a lawyer,” she half-joked.
By the time his mother finished her story, Jonas was numb. All these years, he had thought his father had been killed over some bullshit, only to find out that he had orchestrated his own murder for the good of his family. He wasn’t sure if he hated him for taking the coward’s way out or respected him for putting his woman and kids above his own life. “What happened to the man? The one Daddy was in debt to?”
“I have no clue. If there’s really a God, then that bastard is rotting in hell by now,” Janette spat. Just then, she was hit by a wave of coughing. This time, it was bad, so bad that she had trouble catching her breath.
“I got you!” Jonas patted her back until the fit of coughing passed. When she removed her hand from her mouth, specks of blood were in her palm. “Ma, you need to go to the hospital.”
“I keep telling you I’m fine,” Janette insisted. She pulled a napkin from her pocket and wiped her palm on it.
“You okay?” Sweets came out of the kitchen with Jewels on her heels.