Firestone

by Christian, Claudia Hall

  “And his mom?”

  Tanesha scowled. There was a knock at the door, and Tanesha went to answer it. Peering through the peep hole, she saw Jeraine’s other baby mother. Tanesha groaned.

  “What is it?” Heather asked.

  Tanesha scowled and opened the door.

  “Jeraine’s not here,” Tanesha said before the woman could say a word. “I’ll let him know you came by.”

  Tanesha started to close the door.

  “I came to see you,” the woman said.

  Tanesha glanced at Heather, who was shaking her head.

  “Don’t let her in,” Heather mouthed. “You’re too pissed off.”

  Tanesha nodded to Heather.

  “Jeraine’s working,” Tanesha said. “You can call him.”

  With a nod, she started to close the door again.

  “I came to see you,” the woman said.

  “That’s nice,” Tanesha said.

  As she pushed the door closed, the woman stuck her foot in the doorway.

  “You agoin’ a be my baby’s step’,” the woman said. “I need ta see if you’s capable of bein’ a momma to my precious Jeraine.”

  With her back to the door, Tanesha sneered.

  “I can always tell dat judge dat I don’ think JJ’s safe here.” The woman’s voice was polite but held the threat.

  Angry, Tanesha whipped open the door.

  “It’s not up to you to decide,” Tanesha said.

  “Yes it is,” the woman said. “Jus’ ’cuz you da wife don’ mean I ain’t Jeraine’s mother.”

  Tanesha scowled. The woman gave a little yelp and hopped back as if she’d been burned. Heather trotted to the door. She pushed Tanesha out of the way before the girl burned to death or something equally horrible happened.

  “What do you want?” Heather asked.

  “Who are you?” the woman asked. “I don’ need some white girl . . .”

  Heather shut the door. Tanesha raised a finger as if she were going to make a point. Heather nodded.

  “Why don’t we go get Jeraine?” Heather asked. “He’s just downstairs.”

  “He’s working,” Tanesha said. “He needs to make money to pay the womb he hired.”

  “I heard that,” the woman outside said. “Just because you don’ like the way I live, don’ make you better than me.”

  Tanesha whipped open the door.

  “I don’t fuck married men with the sole intent of getting pregnant so that they can support me,” Tanesha sneered. “I don’t think having a wealthy man’s baby is an occupation.”

  “You jus’ mad ’cuz you ain’t had Jeraine’s baby,” the woman said.

  Tanesha flushed red. Her dark skin looked like the bark of a sequoia tree. Heather hopped in between the women.

  “Why don’t you just go?” Heather asked the woman on the porch.

  “I don’ take orders from no white girl,” the woman said.

  “She’s too good for it,” Tanesha said. “After all, she sold her bodily functions to the highest bidder.”

  “You saying I’m a prostitute?” The woman put her hands on her hips.

  The ground around the house made a little rumble. The air in the house became heavy and dark. Heather heard Jeraine scrambling in the basement. He ran up the stairs and across the little living room space to the front door. Seeing Heather, he looked relieved.

  “What’s going on?” Jeraine asked Tanesha. He put his hand on her back. “You feeling okay?”

  “The mother of your child is here,” Tanesha said in a prim voice.

  Heather managed to push Tanesha out of the way of the door. Jeraine flashed her a “thank you” look and went to the door. He stepped out on the porch and closed the door behind him.

  “I . . .” Tanesha nodded.

  She started for the door again, but Heather got in her way. Lost in thought, Tanesha stood face to face with Heather for more than a minute. Tanesha nodded. Heather pushed and prodded Tanesha back into the kitchen. She negotiated her onto a stool and started making some of Tanesha’s special tea.

  Neither woman said a word until the pot had boiled and the tea was made.

  “She’s right, you know,” Tanesha said in a low voice. “I am jealous. She’s the one who had Jeraine Junior, not me.”

  “She’s not right,” Heather said. “A child is not a competition or something you have so you can live in a fancy house. A child is a miracle, a soul commitment between mother and child, and father and child. You know that.”

  Tanesha looked at her tea.

  “This is never going to work,” Tanesha said. “He’s got all this . . . and I . . . have to deal with it and I . . . can’t.”

  “Jabari’s pretty great,” Heather said.

  Tanesha nodded and held the cup up to her nose.

  “Have you met Jeraine Junior?” Heather asked.

  Tanesha shook her head. They looked at the front door when they heard the woman yelling at Jeraine. Heather clapped in the direction of the porch and Tanesha grinned. They were not above being glad Jeraine was getting his just deserts.

  “I should be like that,” Tanesha said. “Yell it out, but I . . .”

  “Eh,” Heather shrugged. “We all have our ways.”

  Tanesha looked at Heather. Her eyes took in her best friend’s face. Used to Tanesha’s scrutiny, Heather smiled.

  “If you could make a wish and make this situation exactly as you wanted it to be, what would you wish?” Heather asked.

  “I don’t know,” Tanesha said.

  “Humor me,” Heather said. “You’ve spent all this energy worrying and being angry. What if you spent a little time wishing for what you wanted rather than being angry that things aren’t?”

  “Is this some ‘wish and the universe provides’ crap?” Tanesha asked.

  “What if it is?” Heather asked. “Humor me.”

  Tanesha drank her tea while she thought. Heather waited.

  “I guess I’d wish that Jabari were well,” Tanesha said.

  “Would you wish Jer’s children didn’t exist?” Heather asked.

  Tanesha scowled as she gave it real thought.

  “No,” Tanesha said. “I think they’re a big reason Jer’s in recovery and stuff.”

  “What about Miss Thing on the front porch?” Heather asked.

  Tanesha scowled and drank her tea.

  “I can wish anything?” Tanesha asked.

  “Anything,” Heather said.

  “I wish she were a better person,” Tanesha said. “Nicer, wiser. You know how much money he’s spent on her?”

  Heather shook her head.

  “Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year,” Tanesha said. “More than a million dollars plus expenses like housing and food.”

  Tanesha shook her head.

  “I wish the mother of his child would use some of that money to become educated so the child would be educated.”

  “Jer says she’s going to radiology school,” Heather said.

  “Did you hear how she speaks?” Tanesha shook her head. “If she’s graduated the tenth grade, I’d be surprised.”

  “So what do you want?” Heather asked.

  “I wish she spent as much money on improving herself as she does on her nails,” Tanesha said. “I mean, she’s the mother of Jeraine’s child. She should be hardworking and smart and educated and sassy and . . . ”

  Tanesha shook her head.

  “I don’t know,” Tanesha said. “I wish I had more tea.”

  Tanesha set the cup down.

  “You wanna go see Sandy now?” Tanesha asked.

  “Good idea,” Heather said. “We’ll stop and bring her lunch.”

  “I’ll get my purse,” Tanesha said.

  She went upstairs to her bedroom. When Heather came around the counter, she noticed that Tanesha’s once empty cup was now full of tea.

  And it was hot.

  More than a little freaked out by that, Heather went to the bottom of t
he stairs. Tanesha came down a moment later and they left to see Sandy.

  Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-three

  Change forever

  Friday afternoon — 4:25 p.m.

  “How late are you working?” Heather asked Sandy.

  Heather was talking to Sandy on her cell phone while she drove to pick up Blane. Heather turned right off South University Boulevard onto Buchtel and got over into the left turn lane.

  “Eight,” Sandy said. “Seth is my last person. Colin and Raz are here until I’m done. They’re going to take me and Rachel to Seth’s house. We’ll stay there tonight. Hopefully this will blow over by tomorrow. The kids are at Alex’s house, and Aden is going to stay with them.”

  “Tink’s at Alex’s tonight too,” Heather said.

  “So she can be with Charlie,” Sandy and Heather said in unison. They laughed.

  “It’s really nice of Alex,” Heather said. “Alex just said she owed Blane from when he helped cure her sepsis.”

  “And Mack’s with Jill?” Sandy asked.

  “Yeah,” Heather said. “If I get done at the hospital or don’t stay or whatever . . .”

  Heather paused as she turned into the Denver University sports complex. She went around the driving circle and looked for parking.

  “I’ll probably sleep there tonight,” Heather finished her sentence. “If I don’t stay at the hospital. Just depends.”

  “I wish I could be there for you,” Sandy said.

  “I wish I could be there for you!” Heather said. “But . . .”

  “What you’re doing is very important,” Sandy said. “I’d rather you take care of Blane than deal with this stupid stuff.”

  “I know what you mean, but . . .” Heather pulled up in front of the Joy Burns Arena, where Blane was playing one last hockey game with Mike, Jacob, and their team.

  “Don’t worry,” Sandy said. “They’ll catch this guy, and I’ll be at the hospital with you tomorrow morning. Promise.”

  “I hope so,” Heather said.

  “Any word from Tanesha?” Sandy asked.

  “Jabari is coming home,” Heather said. “They think he’ll be released tomorrow morning.”

  “Wow, things must have really turned around from when you were here at lunch,” Sandy said.

  “They think that his mother gave him some drug,” Heather said. “She said he was getting a headache so she gave him some of her migraine medicine.”

  “And it gave him lupus?” Sandy asked.

  “Lupus-like symptoms,” Heather said. “Now, they’re wondering if she’ll be charged with child abuse or just stupidity. Of course, we think she did it for the television show. Schmidty’s looking through all the episodes to see if she’s done it before. The hospital said his file shows that Jabari’s had a couple other incidents like this.”

  “That woman . . .” Sandy growled. “So she knew it would make him sick?”

  “I guess she wanted to be the big mommy who swoops in to save him,” Heather said. “At least that’s what Tanesha says.”

  “And she’s always right,” Sandy said. “That woman . . .”

  “I know,” Heather said. She saw Blane and Jacob come out of the ice arena. They stopped near the doorway to talk. “Ok, he’s here.”

  “Good luck, sweetie,” Sandy said. “I’ll be with you in spirit.”

  “Love you too, Sandy!” Heather said.

  Jacob gave Blane a hug. Mike came out of the arena and he hugged Blane. The three men walked toward Heather’s car. Jacob hugged Blane again, and Blane got into the front seat of the car. Mike opened the back door and threw Blane’s giant duffle bag stuffed with his hockey gear onto the back seat.

  “We’ll see you tomorrow,” Jacob said.

  Mike gave Heather a worried and sad look. Heather smiled. Blane waved to the men, and Heather pulled out. She retraced her path and pulled out onto Buchtel Boulevard. She crossed a few lanes to get into the turn lane at South University Boulevard.

  “How was . . .?” Heather started at the same time Blane said, “How did . . .?”

  They laughed. He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

  “Thanks for picking me up,” he said.

  “How was hockey?” Heather asked.

  “Very fun,” Blane said. “All the guys showed up. Jake put together a team out of a few guys from almost every team in the midnight hockey league. We . . . It was really fun.”

  “You won,” Heather said.

  “Well, they didn’t really have a chance,” Blane said. “They aren’t on the same team and . . .”

  “You really won,” Heather said.

  “Yeah.” Blane smiled. “It was fun to be out on the ice . . . healthy. It was fun to be healthy.”

  “I’m really glad you went,” Heather said.

  “Jake made it happen,” Blane said.

  The light changed, and they were able to turn left onto South University Boulevard. They took University Boulevard into the heart of Denver. Every block she passed brought them one block closer to the hospital, where their lives might change forever.

  “How is Sandy?” Blane asked.

  “Freaked out,” Heather said. “I mean, she’s holding it together. After all, she helped kill a demon in her hair salon basement. Still . . .”

  “This is really much more personal,” Blane said.

  “Yeah,” Heather said. “Do you think it makes sense to not have Aden around?”

  “He’s absolutely crazy,” Blane said. “Angry, anxious, furious. He wants to kill the guy. So yes. I think it’s best. Is Sandy mad that he’s not around?”

  “No,” Heather said. “I think she doesn’t want to have to deal with his anger. I mean, he’s still on probation. If he kills the guy, he’s back in prison. She doesn’t want that. It would destroy their whole life.”

  “But?”

  “I just would be mad,” Heather said.

  “Yes, you would.” Blane smiled.

  Heather grinned at him.

  “And Tanesha?” Blane asked. “Did she end up killing the baby-momma?”

  “Not yet.” Heather smiled. “But Jabari gets to come home — maybe tonight, but probably tomorrow morning.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Blane said. “And Jill?”

  “What do you mean ‘and Jill’?” Heather asked. “Did Jake say something was going on?”

  “No, not at all,” Blane chuckled. “It’s just that we have all this going on. Sandy’s dealing with the guy who made her life hell. Tanesha’s step-son is in the hospital, and the baby-momma drama is high. It seems like something has to be going on with Jill too.”

  “She’s upset about the twins,” Heather said.

  “What about the twins?”

  Heather slowed to a stop at the light at Alameda Boulevard.

  “They make things move when they’re sleeping,” Heather said. “Megan — her sister, you know?”

  “I do know Megan.” Blane smiled.

  “She’s trying to help, but that just makes Jill feel even worse,” Heather said.

  Blane nodded.

  “So you were right,” Heather said. “You can gloat.”

  Blane laughed.

  “Tink’s staying at Alex’s tonight with Sandy’s kids,” Heather said. “Tink and Charlie, well . . .”

  Blane nodded.

  “Does that bother you?” Heather asked.

  “Not really,” Blane said. “You?”

  “No,” Heather said. “They find ways to be together regardless. This way, it’s more out in the open. Plus, Teddy’s going to be there, so his beefy guardian will be there too. That will put a wrench in their plans.”

  Blane laughed.

  “Do you want to stop for anything before . . .” Heather said.

  “I should bring my stuff home,” Blane said.

  “If you want to stop by home, that’s cool with me,” Heather said. “But I can bring in your hockey gear.”

  Blane nodded and swallowed hard.


  “I have your bag,” Heather said. “Or really, our baby bag.”

  Blane smiled. He was using the overnight bag they’d packed when she was going to have Mack.

  “I’ll have to finish up before the baby’s due and you need the bag,” Blane said.

  “That’s right, Mister,” Heather said.

  They laughed. Heather saw that the light was about to change at Sixth Avenue. Rather than speed up to catch the light like she always did, she slowed down to stop at the light. She wanted to get there, but she was in no real hurry. Blane reached over to hold her hand.

  They drove the rest of the way in silence. Neither one wanted to burden the other with their worried thoughts. This was one of life’s dividing moments where they were now in the “before.” In a few minutes, the “after” would start.

  Heather pulled into Saint Joseph’s parking garage. Blane got out and grabbed the overnight bag. He put his arm around Heather, and they walked into the hospital. They went down the hall and took the elevator to the floor where Blane would spend the next month.

  “Mr. Lipson,” the patient advocate said. “Nice to see you.”

  Blane nodded. He glanced at Heather and she smiled at him.

  “Shall we get started?” the patient advocate asked.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Friday evening — 6:42 p.m.

  “You’re mad,” Jeraine said.

  Sitting at the dinner table, Tanesha looked up at him. She passed him the salad bowl rather than respond. He took the bowl and started plating his salad.

  “Just admit it,” Jeraine said. “You’re mad.”

  “I’m mad,” Tanesha said. “Does that make you feel better?”

  “No,” Jeraine said. “But at least it’s honest.”

  Tanesha sighed. She looked down at her dinner. He’d roasted a chicken while she’d made the salad. They’d made the biscuits together. In the kitchen, everything was light. They’d worked together as a team. But sitting here in the dining room, the tension between them returned. They sat like warring countries glaring over an ill-conceived peace treaty.

  “Why are you mad?” Jeraine asked.

  Tanesha sighed.

  “Is it because Annette poisoned Jabari?” Jeraine asked. “Or because of this morning?”

  Tanesha shook her head, but wouldn’t look up from her dinner plate.