A Clean Up Man

by M. T. Pope

  “Soon, Mami, soon,” I assured her. “Let me go get someone so they can release you.” I walked out to the nurses’ station and asked about her release.

  Within ten minutes a nurse came into the room with her release papers and a wheelchair to push her out of the hospital. Carla waited by the front door while I went to the parking lot and drove around to the front of the hospital to pick them up. When we were all in the car I pulled off and headed toward her home.

  Carlos’s mom was sitting in the back with Carla. I peeked back at them through the rearview mirror and Carla had her hand in her soon-to-be mother-in-law’s hand. It made me smile to see that they had bonded already.

  On the way to her house Carla broke the news to her that Carlos probably wouldn’t be home until Monday. She sobbed a little and moaned, “Mi hijo, mi hijo.”

  When we got to her house we all went in and she immediately began to get her house together. After everything was close to the way it was originally she then started cooking.

  She called out, “Mi hijo, mi hijo,” and sobbed some more as she was preparing food. Carla leaned over to me once and asked what she was saying, and I told her it meant “my son, my son.”

  “We are going to have a party Monday for Carlos. Big party,” she exclaimed.

  “Yes, ma’am.” I nodded my head in agreement. I just hoped that it was true. I ate a little food and then went home with promises to come back tomorrow.

  Chapter 32

  No Rush

  “Kraig, Angie just got shot and they are rushing her to St. Agnes Hospital.”

  I answered my mother’s call after she had called me like three times before. I thought it might be important after the third time she called. I was still feeling some type of way about her putting me out of her house a couple of weeks ago. I was hoping that she was calling to apologize and give up some information, but this was what I heard as soon as I said hello.

  “Really . . . wow . . . That’s not good.” The tone in my voice was as dry as a saltine cracker in the desert. I couldn’t have cared less at this moment. I was in Wal-Mart, wasting time browsing up and down the aisles. I was trying not to think about tomorrow and whether Carlos would get bail. It was really his first serious offense, but you never knew with the judges in the city of Baltimore. They were hard-nosed and they liked to make examples out of folks. I prayed that the judge he would stand before tomorrow would have gotten laid or something this weekend and was in a good mood.

  “It’s not good.” She must not have caught the sarcasm in my voice, or if she did she just went right past it. “I’m on my way over there now. Are you busy? Can you meet me at the hospital?”

  I was standing in the electronics department with a Chrisette Michele CD in my hand. I was contemplating buying hers or Rihanna’s new CD, but I couldn’t decide so I put both of them down and concentrated on the question my mother just asked me.

  “Kraig?” my mother voice’s called out to me. “Did you hear me?”

  “Yes, I was just thinking.”

  “Kraig, I need you here.”

  I heard the desperation in her voice, so I gave in. “Okay, I’ll be there shortly.” I hung up the phone and blew out a frustrated breath, and then walked away from the cart that I had put a few things into. I then walked out of the store and to my truck.

  I pulled up to the hospital parking garage and got out of my truck. I walked nonchalantly toward the emergency door entrance. When I got in the lobby I looked around and saw my mother sitting in a chair with her head down a little. It looked as if she was praying. I sat down in the seat next to her and placed my arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to me.

  “Oh, Kraig!” She sobbed a little as she leaned her head on my shoulder. There were a few other people in the lobby. “This is horrible. She was unconscious when she came into the hospital. Another cop came in and told me that she pulled over someone and went to frisk them, and the guy she pulled over overpowered her and got a hold of her gun, and in the tussle to get it back she was shot. The doctor came and told me she lost a lot of blood. I’m scared, Kraig.” She looked at me with her face covered in fear and sorrow.

  “Did anybody come out and give you an update?” I tried to look as concerned as possible. I actually was . . . a little.

  “No, but I’ve only been here for about fifteen minutes.”

  Before I could ask her another question a doctor walked out of some double doors and over toward where we were sitting.

  “Hello, ma’am, you are the relative of the officer who was brought in a while ago, correct?”

  My mother nodded her head yes and sniffed back some tears. The look on the doctor’s face was gloomy looking. I was afraid that he was going to tell us the worst.

  “Well, we operated and retrieved the bullet that was lodged in some tissue. She was shot in a main artery of her left thigh, which is a hard artery hit but not impossible. She lost a large amount of blood and she sustained a bump on the head from a fall that I assumed that happened when she got shot. The bump on her head was a hard one because she fell into a coma on the ride over. She is still unconscious, but stable. I came out to ask you if you know anyone that can donate blood. The patient has the very rare AB negative blood type and we used up the last that we had here in the blood bank and we will need more very soon. We are checking around to other hospitals to see if we can get some transported, but time is crucial when dealing with these types of situations.”

  “You said AB negative blood type?” My mother sat up and perked up a little.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He nodded his head.

  “My son is AB negative blood type.” She looked at me.

  “I am?” I didn’t know what blood type I was and I never had to find out. I wondered how she knew. “How do you know that?”

  “You’re my son. I know everything about you. I asked those questions when you were born, for my records. I was a first-time mom and I didn’t want anything to go wrong so I asked for all the information I could get.”

  “Oh, okay.” I nodded my head. I should have known that too, I thought.

  “Well, can we test your blood to see if we can accept your blood?” the doctor asked me.

  I looked at my mother and then the doctor. “Can you give me a minute to decide?” I asked.

  “Okay, but please don’t take too long. We will need to know an answer very soon.” He turned and walked away.

  “What do you have to decide?” my mother asked me immediately after the doctor walked away. “Do you not like Angie that much that you would risk me losing her? She loves you; you know that, don’t you?” I saw some tears glistening in the corner of her eyes once again. It made me feel heartless, but I wasn’t.

  “No, I don’t.” I actually didn’t hate her as I played it out to be. I was just extremely annoyed at her trying to fit in so hard. She didn’t give me the option to parent me. I thought as a child that I should have had the option of who I wanted to parent me. I was wrong.

  “So what’s the problem then?”

  “There isn’t a problem,” I surmised. “I guess I was just misplacing the anger I had for my absentee father on to her.” It’s amazing how you see things in a different light.

  “So are you going to give the blood?” she asked, almost begging.

  “I’ll do it, only if you tell me what is really going on with my father.”

  “If that’s what you want.” She nodded her head. “Just remember that you asked for it when I tell you the truth.”

  “Okay. Whatever.” I shrugged my shoulders. Because what was the worst that she could tell me? Drug dealer, drug addict, male prostitute, porn star . . . Whatever he was, I just wanted to know about him.

  “You have to give the blood first,” she asserted.

  “How I know you not going to renege on me?” I loved my mother but I needed to be reassured.

  “Trust me, I won’t renege on you. I wanted to tell you for some time now and I will be glad when the truth is
out. It is such a burden to carry. We also have to wait until Angie wakes up before I tell you. Okay, go get the doctor so we can get this over with,” she said, almost pushing me out of my chair.

  “Okay, I’ll be right back,” I said as I got out of my chair.

  I was so excited to know that I was finally going to find out about my father. I wanted to know why he left. Was I the reason he left? Did I have any brothers and sisters? I wanted to know what traits I got from him. I wanted to know it all.

  A few moments later . . .

  “Ma, I’m going outside to get some fresh air. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay, baby.” She looked at me with a soft smile on her face. I melted because I would do anything for my mother. She was my strength.

  As I walked out the emergency room door, the crisp spring air wafted into my nostrils as I inhaled a deep breath. If I were a smoker, right now would have been a time that I would have pulled out one or two and smoked for some relief, but since I wasn’t I just had to rough it through my problems like a normal person. Substance abuse only prolonged the suffering anyway.

  I spotted a bench a few feet away from the entrance and decided to go over and take a seat. I had a lot to think about and a lot to clean up. This was a big mess called my life.

  I sat back and tilted my head back a little and closed my eyes. The sounds of the world were going on around me. It’s amazing what you can hear and feel when you sit still and listen. My time to myself was interrupted by the vibrating of my phone.

  “Hello.” I answered my phone with an attitude. It was a blocked number so I knew it was Jarrod.

  “What happened to the love you had for me?” Jarrod’s cynical voice came through the phone.

  “What do you want?” I barked. “Haven’t you done enough to make my life miserable?”

  “Nothing, I just wanted to see how you were doing.” He was taunting me and he knew it.

  “Jarrod, I’m at the hospital. I don’t need your drama right now.”

  “The hospital?” he asked. “Is everything okay? Is everyone okay?”

  “Jarrod, cut the bullshit. I know you have something to do with what’s going on right now. A very close friend of my mother was shot today and I know you have something to do with it. Why don’t you just come after me and leave these other people alone?”

  “Actually, I can’t take the responsibility for that one, but it was nice to hear once the news got to my station. It looks like karma is helping me get you too. But don’t worry, I’m going to help her along because your time is coming and I’m going to love it . . . every single moment.”

  “Fuck you, Jarrod. Fuck you!” I hollered at him in rage.

  “We already did plenty of that, remember? And, boy, was it good.”

  “Well, too bad I don’t particularly care for the person who was shot, so I guess you don’t get to revel that long,” I spoke up defiantly.

  “Oh, I know who was shot. I know her very well. And she talks about your ass all of the time. My wife’s son is this and my wife’s son is that . . . That shit was sickening and she was getting on my nerves with all of that shit. That’s why I am glad her ass got shot. She thought she was a man so she got tossed up like one. I heard big dude got the best of her.” He laughed again.

  I didn’t find it funny. In fact, I was super heated. I wanted to throw my phone in a fit of rage and break it into a million pieces. A few people who were walking by me looked at me like I was losing my mind because I was pacing and panting a little from the anxiety that I was having talking to him. Regretting my mistake of trying to get him back was too late; I had unleashed a monster and didn’t even know about it. This is what you get when you blame other folks for your shit. Knowing that now didn’t make me any less angry than I was right now, though. It was what it was. I was going to face my mess head-on.

  “You are one cruel bastard.” If I had been in his face I would have spit on him.

  “That makes two of us. Remember, you started this,” he said sarcastically. “Go take care of your mother’s lesbian lover and wait for your karma to come knocking at your door, or wherever it may find you.” He hung up the phone in my ear after he said that.

  I wanted to break down and cry right then and there, but I didn’t because it wasn’t going to help anyway. I was at his mercy, or at least I let him think that I was. I had a one more trick up my sleeve and now was a good time to play it. I opened my phone and looked at the secret number I stored just in case. I didn’t know if doing this would work, but I only hoped it would. I just had to wait for the right time to unleash it. Yes, timing was of the essence.

  A few more seconds later and I went back into the hospital to sit with my mother some more.

  Chapter 33

  Mother Dear

  I had been in the hospital for a couple of hours now. My blood had come back clean and I gave as much as they needed. I had to admit I was worried that I contracted an STD and may not have known about it. I did get tested every six months but I was in between tests now. I’d never contracted anything before and now would not be a good time for something to show up. That would have been something to have to tell my mother, that I couldn’t give blood because I contracted something. I really needed to be more conscious of who and what I was doing sexually, because you never knew what someone had come in contact with before they met you.

  Anyway, Angie was still unconscious and my mother was sleeping on and off in the chair next to me along with a few other people still in the room. Some of these people have been in here since I came and no one had checked to see if they needed anything. It was one of the reasons I didn’t like coming to the hospital or emergency rooms. The chance that you just might die waiting was crazy to me.

  Anyway, I was sitting in the chair, still weak from them drawing the blood and the conversation that I had with Jarrod not too long ago. I didn’t know that it took so much out of you when you gave blood. My mother paced back and forth a little in between naps. I told her that everything was going to be fine, and I genuinely wanted it to work out. Watching someone close to you almost lose someone close to them was enough to make anyone rethink their stubborn ways, and that was what I was doing right now as I sat here relaxing. Being mad at my mother for something as silly as a missing father seemed frivolous now. What if I had lost her or if it were her who had been shot, and what if it had been Carlos who’d gotten shot and killed in the raid by a trigger-happy cop, and not just arrested? I would have been devastated too.

  “Ma?” I called out to her as she was standing in front of a vending machine, just looking in it. I could hear her humming something, but I didn’t know what it was.

  “Yes?” She turned and looked at me. Tears stained her face.

  “Come and sit down next to me. I need to say something to you.” I patted the chair next to me with my hand. She did as I asked and I could see the anguish written all over her face. I became even more remorseful for my selfish ways.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I just want to say that I’m sorry for the way I have been acting lately. I have been totally out of order. I wasn’t being the son I was supposed to be. I’m sorry.”

  “Kraig, I accept your apology and I totally understand your request for information. As soon as Angie wakes up I will set all of this in order. The truth will make us all free. I love you, son.” She reached over and pulled me into a tight embrace. There is nothing like a mother’s hug and love. It was what I needed and before we knew it we were both bawling our eyes out on each other’s shoulders. I guessed we both really needed to let out a real hard cry.

  After the long embrace we pulled apart and both of us sat back in our chairs and just breathed.

  “Sangoria”—Carlos’s mom—“called me last night and told me about Carlos. That is so unfortunate for her to see her son get carted off to jail. It’s always a blessing and a curse lurking together. Here he was getting ready to marry the woman of his dreams and now he is behind
bars for some puff-puff-pass.” I looked at her as she shook her head in shame. “Such a good man and now look at this, another life gone to the system. I’m so glad that you didn’t go down that path.”

  This is why Jarrod started with Carlos first. He knew that I’d have to eventually tell Carlos the truth. I would have to tell him I’m the reason why he might be going to jail for a long time. What kind of friend would welcome me back with open arms after he finds out I am the reason he’s behind bars? It’s inevitable that I tell him the truth. Being up shit creek without a paddle is an understatement of what I am feeling right now. I am on the verge of losing my very best friend and Lord knows what he has planned for me. And to top it all off I have to stand still and wait for it.

  “Well, Mom, don’t count Carlos out yet. There is more than meets the eye in this situation.” Guilt was taking jabs at my heart with every passing moment. “His fiancée works for a defense attorney and she assured me that he will do everything he can do to get Carlos out and on the streets. All of this is bogus and the truth will come out.”

  “I sure hope so, because it would be a damn shame for his entire life to be ruined for one mistake.” She frowned.

  I just nodded my head, slouched myself down in the chair, laid my head back, and closed my eyes. I needed a quick break from myself.

  From what seemed like minutes of sleep I was awakened by my mother softly shaking me back to the world.

  “What’s wrong?” I looked at my mother and then at my watch. Three hours had passed by. It was now a little after four o’clock in the afternoon. I stretched my arms and checked my breath.

  “You were snoring, and the doctor just came and told me that Angie is still unconscious and probably will be so for another day or so.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, he said it is normal for her type of injury. He said that it was safe for me to go home and they would notify me of the slightest change.”