Firestone

by Christian, Claudia Hall

  Dionne and Bumpy stood in the doorway. The moment the boy laid eyes on Bumpy, his entire demeanor changed. He squealed with laughter. Bumpy walked past a stunned Yvonne over to the boy. He lifted the wet boy from the bath and held him tight.

  “You found me,” the boy said over and over again. “I prayed and prayed and you found me.”

  Dionne put her hand on Bumpy’s arm, and he looked at her. Bumpy smiled, but did not let go of the boy.

  “Is that . . .?” Dionne asked in a low voice.

  “He says he’s Jeraine’s baby,” Yvonne said. “Says he’s from Atlanta. He was waiting at the elevator. His mother put him on a plane to Denver.”

  Dionne looked so angry Yvonne thought she could see steam coming from her ears.

  “We’ve been fighting to get a chance to spend time with this child for . . .,” Dionne’s eyes sparked, “ . . .years. His mother’s on Real Housewives or First Wives of Hip-Hop or some stupid reality show. There was no way she was going to let us . . . Bumpy writes him a letter every week to tell him that we love him. Jer’s other son, too.”

  “She’s not going to have much to say very soon,” Yvonne said. “I called Tannie’s friend Heather. She’s coming over with her social worker and the police.”

  Dionne looked at Yvonne, and she nodded. Dionne grinned.

  “Let’s get him dried off,” Dionne said. “There’s going to be a mess of people here soon. We need to check him to see if he’s physically all right.”

  Bumpy took the towel from Dionne and dried the boy. The police arrived just after Bumpy got started. They let Bumpy examine the boy. Bumpy helped the child get dressed in the tattered clothing from his plastic grocery bag before the police talked to him. Heather and Risa arrived with food. Yvonne took the boy to the kitchen to eat so the police and social worker could talk with Dionne and Bumpy.

  The IRS chose that exact time to come to take the apartment and keys. They were nice enough, but the entire affair was more family drama than the IRS inspector wanted to deal with. They had just reached the street when Jeraine ran down the sidewalk from where he’d parked his car. Seeing Jeraine, the boy took off running.

  “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!”

  Yvonne trailed close behind. She had almost caught the boy when Jeraine picked him up and twirled him around. Yvonne heard the boy talking a mile a minute and saw the tears on Jeraine’s face. Smiling, she turned around to delay the police, social workers, and even Dionne and Bumpy. Her little friend had come all this way to see his father. He deserved a minute.

  When she turned back, she saw that Jeraine was ready to fight for his son. She gave him a nod and moved aside so the police could do their work.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Saturday evening — 6:32 p.m.

  Katy skipped up the walkway to the Castle’s side door with Paddie right behind her.

  “Hey, wait for us!” Colin called from the car, where Julie was getting Conner from the car seat.

  Paddie and Katy pretended not to hear him.

  “Paddie! Katy!” Colin caught up with them at the door. He held the door closed until Julie and Conner were there. “We’d like to go in together so you don’t . . .”

  Colin opened the door. Paddie took off inside the Castle. Katy ran after him.

  “ . . . get lost,” Colin finished his statement. He scowled.

  “They only get lost to us grown-ups,” MJ said. He hugged Colin.

  “We promised Jill we’d care for Katy,” Julie said. “She took care of Paddie . . .”

  Their attention turned to Katy and Paddie laughing and spinning in circles.

  “Don’t worry about that kind of thing,” MJ said.

  “It’s hard not to,” Julie said.

  “I know,” MJ laughed. “I’m just telling you what they tell me.”

  Julie smiled. They went into the Castle living room and joined the hustle and bustle of pre-dinner.

  “Katy!” Jill said as she came into the living room from the kitchen.

  Katy ran to her mother and threw her arms around her. They held each other for a few moments before Paddie joined their hug.

  “My two favorite people.” Jill knelt down and kissed each of their cheeks. “Do you know why you’re here tonight?”

  “I live here.” Katy nodded.

  “I live here too.” Paddie nodded. “Sometimes.”

  “That’s true,” Jill said. “Tonight, we’re welcoming Ivy and Keenan to live with us. You remember Ivy, don’t you?”

  Jill gestured to the kitchen where Ivy and Nash were helping Delphie finish dinner preparations.

  “Uh-huh,” Katy said.

  “And you remember . . .” Jill gestured to where Keenan was talking to Sam. His skin was now milk-chocolate brown, his eyes were amber-brown like Fin’s, and his hair was in small brother-dreads. He wore a standard kid uniform of new jeans and a T-shirt. Feeling their eyes, Keenan turned to look.

  Katy gasped.

  “But that’s . . .” Katy leaned forward to whisper to her mother.

  “He’s going to live with us,” Jill said.

  “Why?” Katy asked.

  “Because he needs a nice place to grow up,” Jill said. “Not like before when . . .”

  Jill gave Katy a knowing nod, and Katy wrinkled her nose.

  “I know you,” Keenan said to Katy. His voice had a slight almost-British accent, which made him sound formal. “I had a dream about you.”

  Katy nodded.

  “You were my princess,” Keenan said.

  “She wasn’t your princess.” Paddie moved between Keenan and Katy. He stood up to his full height. Even at four years old, he was almost as tall as the thin, small Keenan. “Katy’s nobody’s princess.”

  “I belong to me,” Katy said.

  “And me,” Paddie said.

  “And Paddie,” Katy said. “He’s my best, best forever friend.”

  “Oh.” Keenan looked confused and embarrassed. “Um . . .”

  “You could be our friend too,” Paddie said. He gave Keenan a big smile.

  “I could?” Keenan looked relieved.

  Katy nodded.

  “How come you aren’t a princess?” Keenan face fell in sadness. “I thought you were a princess.”

  “We don’t have princesses here in America,” Jill said. “We belong to ourselves and each other.”

  Jill gestured to the adults and children standing around talking. Keenan turned to look at Jill. She smiled at him. As if taking her in, he looked at her for a while.

  “Katy’s is your little girl,” Keenan said. “And Paddie is her knight.”

  “That’s right,” Jill said.

  “And you are our friend,” Katy said.

  “I am?” Keenan looked down at the ground. “Are you sure? I feel . . .”

  “Of course you’re our friend,” Paddie said.

  Keenan looked at Katy and then at Paddie. He scowled.

  “I feel like I did something really bad and hurt you or . . .”

  “You didn’t hurt me,” Paddie said.

  “You didn’t hurt me,” Katy said.

  Jill gave him an assuring smile. He smiled at her.

  “Maybe you haven’t had friends before,” Katy said.

  “I think that’s right.” Keenan nodded.

  “We have lots of friends,” Paddie said. “My daddy has lots of friends and my mommy has lots of friend and Katy’s daddy has lots of friends and Katy’s mommy has lots of friends. Now you have lots and lots of friends!”

  Paddie beamed at his logic. Keenan grinned. Jill reached out her arms and scooped all three children up in a hug. She kissed each of their cheeks. Keenan put his hand over where Jill had kissed him and smiled.

  “Come on,” Paddie said. He held out his hand to Katy and to Keenan. “Let’s go get a good seat.”

  The kids ran to the dining room.

  “They worked it out,” Delphie said. She held out her hand and helped Jill up.

  “Paddie,” Jill said. �
�He’s a charmer.”

  “You think there will be friction between Keenan and Katy?” Delphie’s eyebrows furrowed with worry.

  “I doubt it,” Jill said. “Katy’s pretty involved in her own life. Keenan has so much on his plate — learning to read, getting settled here and at school, eating and growing. He won’t have time for much trouble. I mean, I’m no psychic. Thank God.”

  “Were you speaking of us?” Anjelika came toward Jill with the boys. Jill smiled, and Anjelika laughed. Jill took her sons from her mother.

  “Let’s eat!” Delphie said.

  Everyone moved toward the dining room. Jill stood next to Delphie.

  “Do you think there’ll be trouble between Katy and Keenan?” Jill asked.

  “No,” Delphie said. “I think everything is going to work out just fine.”

  “Me too,” Jill said.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Saturday — 10:32 P.M.

  “Hi,” Sandy said when Aden came into their bedroom.

  He gave her a partial smile before going into their bathroom. He came out a few minutes later and went to Rachel’s crib.

  “You can get her,” Sandy said.

  He looked at her.

  “She’s been taking sleeping lessons from Katy.” Sandy smiled. “She’ll stay asleep.”

  “Nice of Katy,” Aden said. He leaned over the railing to pick up Rachel.

  Sandy smiled.

  “How are you?” Sandy asked.

  “Sore. Tired. Disgusted.” Aden held Rachel near his face to smell her baby scent. She was sound asleep.

  “How did it go today?” Sandy asked.

  He looked at her for a moment.

  “You can tell me.” Sandy patted the bed next to her.

  He gave a kind of nod and went around the bed to his side. Still carrying Rachel, he got into bed.

  “She’s getting big,” Aden said. “She looks like a real . . . kid, you know?”

  “She’s not a newborn preemie anymore,” Sandy said.

  Aden nodded. They heard footsteps upstairs, and Aden looked up.

  “Jake’s home too?” Sandy asked.

  “He came home with me,” Aden said. “I don’t know how he’s still standing. He says he’s been awake for two days, but . . . this . . . and . . .”

  Sandy watched him for a moment.

  “How can people be so selfish?” Aden asked. “We risked life and limb to save people. We . . . and they . . .”

  “What’s happening?” Sandy asked. “I thought the state cleared Lipson Construction.”

  “The state and county,” Aden said. “We had zero to do with the site when all this crap happened, but of course, those bastards . . .”

  Rachel opened her eyes when Aden’s voice became terse. She gave her father a little yawn before falling asleep again.

  “She’s really beautiful,” Aden said.

  Sandy smiled and waited. Aden sighed.

  “The oil company is going to investigate, and those bastards that took over from us are paying for an ‘independent investigation,’ which only implies that Jake and Sam paid the state and county.”

  “What does Jake say?” Sandy asked.

  “He says not to worry about it,” Aden said. “We’ll sort it out. We have enough on our plate with the financial cut back and . . .”

  “The state’s still not giving you back the road contracts,” Sandy said.

  “Of course not,” Aden said. “Everything that was true Thursday is true today. We’re all broke, and these guys say it’s our fault the earthquake happened. Makes me crazy.”

  Sandy gave him a soft smile.

  “I don’t know, Sandy,” Aden said. “Seems like doing the right thing only gets you into trouble.”

  “Look around us,” Sandy said. “We live here in Delphie’s house. We moved in when we were desperate — you were in prison, I was here with the kids alone, pregnant. She’s never asked us for anything. I mean, we help out with dinner or whatever, but they don’t charge us rent and they help with the kids and everything. That’s what we get for trying to do the right thing.”

  Aden gave her a long look.

  “You’re just tired,” Sandy said.

  Aden paused for a moment and looked at Rachel.

  “I want to use,” Aden said. “I was going to . . . today at lunch. But . . .”

  “I know,” Sandy said. Aden’s head jerked to look at her.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Aden said. “It’s been eating at me. I sat outside of a liquor store last night for an hour. I had a plan to drink to day at lunch, but . . . I guess I got too busy.”

  Sandy touched his arm and he looked at her.

  “It really scared me,” Aden said. “I love our life. Using, drinking, would ruin everything. I was right there, and somehow . . .”

  “You need rest,” Sandy said. “Did you eat?”

  Aden shook his head.

  “Don’t get too hungry, angry, lonely, tired,” Sandy said.

  Aden smiled.

  “How ’bout we go into the kitchen?” Sandy got out of bed. “I’ll make you a roast beef sandwich. You can tell me all about the site. We’ll make love, and you’ll sleep like a baby.”

  “That should do it.” Aden grinned at her logic.

  “Yep,” Sandy said. “And a meeting tomorrow.”

  “And a meeting tomorrow first thing,” Aden said.

  She held her hand out to him. He got out of bed with Rachel. He put Rachel on his hip and took Sandy’s hand. She led him to the kitchen.

  Chapter Two Hundred and Eighty-two

  . . .Effect

  Saturday night — 11:02 p.m.

  “Hi,” Jeraine said to Tanesha when she walked into the basement room where Heather was putting them up for the night. He was sitting with his back against the headboard with his laptop open on his lap. “Late night?”

  “The last couple of days, I’ve been so busy.” Tanesha smiled at him. “I needed to catch up.”

  “And Fin?”

  “He’s behind too,” Tanesha said. “Plus, I wanted to spend tomorrow with you and your son. Does he have a name?”

  “Jabari,” Jeraine said. “It means ‘brave’ or ‘strong’ and it has a ‘J’ for me and an ‘A’ for her. At least that’s why she said she named him that.”

  “Jabari,” Tanesha repeated. “Heather said there’s some problem with his name?”

  “His mother calls him ‘Jabber.’” Jeraine scowled and Tanesha shook her head. “Did you see the episode where she . . .?”

  Tanesha nodded.

  “How . . .?” Jeraine asked.

  “Fin thought we should see it,” Tanesha said. “We watched it while we ate dinner. Jabari’s mother? Annette? She’s . . .”

  “A complete nightmare,” Jeraine said.

  “Special,” Tanesha repeated what she’d said before. “You have your computer out. Did you want to watch it again?”

  Jeraine gave her such a sad look that she sat down on the bed next to him.

  “Let’s take a look,” Tanesha said.

  Tanesha leaned over to push the play button.

  The scene opened with Annette, Jabari’s mother, talking to her lawyer about the new child support agreement. The lawyer explained to Annette that her child support was reduced due to Jeraine’s current financial situation. Annette started screaming the moment the lawyer told her the new amount of child support, and things went down from there.

  While the cameras rolled, Annette marched out to the backyard, where Jabari was playing. She grabbed the boy by the arm and dragged him across the marble floors in her enormous house to his tiny bedroom, where she told him to pack. When he got out his suitcase, she balked. She stormed out of his room and returned with a plastic bag. When he tried to pack any clean, wearable clothing, she would grab it from the plastic bag and throw it on the bed.

  “Ima gonna sell dat,” Annette said to anything that looked wearable. Her voice was artificially accented with unintelligible
English. “You of no use to me now.”

  When the boy had packed a pair of tattered pants and a top, Annette took him into the bathroom, where she changed him into diapers, “like the baby he is.” Clearly humiliated, the boy didn’t look up at the camera when he came out. He shuffled toward the door as if he’d gone through this before.

  “You’s goin’ back to your daddy,” Annette said.

  The boy looked surprised.

  “What . . . What do you mean?” Jabari asked.

  “Yo daddy put you in my life,” Annette said. “Yo daddy will take you out.”

  “But . . . but . . . why?” Jabari asked.

  “You ain’t worth a dime,” Annette said. “Not one thin dime, and I’m done with you.”

  She gestured for him to pick up his plastic bag. Silent tears streamed down the boy’s face.

  “You better stop that,” Annette said. “You know what happens when you cry.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jabari said in a low voice.

  Annette pushed the child out into the hallway. She nudged and badgered him down the grand stairway of her pink and white palatial home. At the bottom of the stairs, the boy turned to look up. Another child, a year or so younger than Jabari, started to scream.

  “They’s no reason for you to cry,” Annette said. “Yo daddy ain’t no broke-ass negro.”

  Jabari’s eyes went round, and he looked at his mother. She pointed to the door and he walked out. Annette’s driver watched the whole thing from the sidelines. He grabbed a warm jacket from the coat closet and followed them out.

  The ride to the airport was filled with Annette’s opinions about Jeraine and Tanesha. When they got to the airport, Annette bought the boy a plane ticket to Denver. Without saying another word, she dropped him off at airport security. The driver leaned down to help the boy with his jacket. The camera filmed the man stuffing money into Jabari’s pockets.

  “Bye,” Annette said, and she walked off.

  Jabari watched her go before walking into airport security. The cameras followed Annette out of the airport.