by Carl Weber
“Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You don’t have the sickle-cell trait at all?” I could hear the frustration in Wil’s voice as he looked at Allen, then back to the papers he was holding.
“Nope, and they must’ve tested my blood five times.” Remarkably, Allen looked like he felt better now that he’d gotten this off his chest. I guess that was his first step toward healing, ’cause all of a sudden he looked much closer to his old self.
“This is unbelievable,” Wil groaned. He lifted his head from whatever he was reading, and I’m not sure if he was talking about what Allen said or about the papers in his hand. “Okay, so he’s not your biological son. What are you gonna do now?”
“He’s gonna kick that bitch Rose to the curb, that’s what he’s gonna do!” Jay jumped up out of his seat.
“No, Jay, he’s not gonna kick her to the curb.” Wil shook his head at Jay. “He’s going to think this whole thing through like an adult. That’s what he’s gonna do.”
Jay twisted his face. “What the fuck is there to think about, Wil? The baby’s not his!”
“Kyle, will you please talk some sense into this guy?” Wil looked at me for support, but this time he was on his own, ’cause I agreed with Jay. No way in hell would I stay with a woman after she did some shit like this.
“Sorry, Wil, but he’s right.”
“No, he’s not, Kyle! You need to read this.” Wil slapped the papers he’d been reading across my chest then walked over to Allen, who was trying to settle down the baby. He’d started hollering when Jay screamed. “You really love him, don’t you, Al.”
“Yeah, I do. That’s what makes this whole thing so fucked up. She don’t give a shit about him.”
“Don’t worry, man, we’re gonna get through this. We just gotta be there for each other.”
“Holy shit!” I screamed. “Is this shit for real?” I waved the papers in the air.
“Yep,” Wil frowned. “Now you see why I said we have to think this through.”
“Damn, what the hell was she thinking about?” I sighed.
“What are y‘all talkin’ ’bout?” Jay demanded.
“Ma Jackson. She left Rose a two-hundred-thousand-dollar life insurance policy.”
“Get the fuck outta here. Ma Jackson wouldn’t do that.” Jay snatched the policy out my hand.
“Yes, she would. I was there when she signed it.” All six of our eyes were on Allen as he began to pace the room, holding the baby.
“Why would you let her do a dumb thing like that?” I was pissed. No wonder Rose was so eager to put on a first-class funeral for Ma. Once it was over, she was gonna get paid 200 gees and maybe more if the double indemnity clause kicked in.
“At first I thought it was a bad idea too, and I fought Ma on it. I swear I did, but then she gave me this speech about the baby needing security in case something happened to me. And about how she would have never made it if it wasn’t for the life insurance policy she had out on my dad. Then she started to go into this whole thing about cancer running in my family and about how my dad died so young, and his father died young. After a while, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Rose was about to be my wife. Why shouldn’t she have security?” He continued to pace, then laughed out loud. “Funny thing is, after we found out Jonathan had sickle-cell, me and Ma had a long talk at the hospital. Ma was real pissed off that Rose had gone outta town and wouldn’t come home to be with Jonathan. She swore up and down that she was gonna have that policy changed to my name first thing Monday morning.” Allen stopped pacing, then looked at us sadly. “I guess she never got around to it.”
“Damn, Al, what you gonna do now?”
Allen smiled evilly.
“First I’m gonna make sure she spends every dime of that insurance money before I divorce her ass.” He kissed the baby. “Then I’m going to figure out a way to get her to sign away her parental rights. I’m not gonna let her get Jonathan. She doesn’t deserve him.”
“Amen to that,” I whispered, my eyes opening wide as a thought came to mind. “Hey, Allen, you sure Ma was robbed?”
“Yeah, that’s what the cops told me.”
“Why?” Wil folded his arms, studying my face as if he was trying to read my mind.
“No reason,” I sighed, shaking my head. I tried my best not to make eye contact, but he wasn’t going for it.
“No, Kyle, why?” He wouldn’t stop staring at me.
“It’s nothing, Wil. Look, I don’t wanna start no shit. We just buried Ma.” I gave him a look to end the conversation, but he didn’t take the hint. Now Allen and Jay were staring at me too.
“No, it’s not okay,” Wil insisted.
“Look, Kyle, if you know something, I wanna know what it is,” Allen demanded.
“Look, man, it’s probably nothing, but did you ever think of the possibility that Rose might’ve had something to do with your ma’s death? I mean, two hundred thousand is a lot of money.”
“To be honest with you, Kyle, I did. I even went to the police and told them about the policy.”
“You did? What’d they say?” Jay was all up in it now.
“They said they appreciated the information but they were sure that this was a robbery-related shooting and that there had been at least three other killings or robberies of elderly women in Ma’s neighborhood in the last few weeks.”
“Then how come they haven’t found them yet?” Wil demanded.
“Well, I guess that takes Rose off the hook—” A loud crash interrupted what I was about to say.
“What the fuck was that?” Jay shouted. A few seconds later, Allen’s cousin Malcolm popped his head in the door.
“Yo, Jay, that girl you came here with is out here fighting,” Malcolm laughed, and I could see the embarrassment on Jay’s face.
“Shit!” Jay ran out of the room, followed by Wil. I was about to follow them myself when Allen grabbed my arm.
“I need to talk to you about something.”
“Sure, Al. What’s up?”
“That night me and Ma talked at the hospital.”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Ma told me about you and Rose being together the night before my wedding, Kyle.”
“She did?” ! I think my heart stopped.
“Yeah,” Allen nodded.
I’m sure my jaw had dropped down to my knees. I’d never been so humbled in my entire life, and to be honest I would have done anything if I could have just disappeared. Surprisingly, Allen never even looked my way. He just kept pacing back and forth as he held the baby.
“Allen, I swear nothing happened.” He finally looked at me with a half smile.
“Hey, don’t worry, Kyle. I believe you. I know you wouldn’t do me like that. Ma wasn’t sure about what happened, but she told me you wanted to call off the wedding and she had to talk you out of it.”
“Yeah, I was pretty mad that day. That’s why I played sick at your reception.”
“That’s also why you asked me if I was settling. Wasn’t it?”
“Uh-huh,” I shrugged as I nodded. “Look, you want me to tell you what happened?”
“Nah, man. You don’t have to prove yourself to me. You’ve been doing that all your life. I know you’re a true friend, and I love you for that.”
“Thanks, man. I love you too.” I stood up and wrapped my arm around him, praying that all the drama in our lives was gonna end.
42
Jay
“Lemme go! Lemme go! I’m gonna kick your ass, bitch! Y’all better lemme go!”
When I made my way through the crowd, I spotted Tracy kicking and screaming hysterically as two brothers tried their best to hold her back. She was trying to get to Crystal, the sister who had been pointing at us earlier. It’s a good thing those brothers were there before things got too physical. What Tracy didn’t know, or at least didn’t care, was that Crystal was Allen’s cousin and half the people in the room were her relatives. If Tracy got one go
od shot in on Crystal, her relatives would be on her like white on rice. Pregnant or not.
“Let her go!” All eyes were on me as I walked over and stood in front of Tracy. I stared the two brothers down and they wisely let go of my lady. Right away Tracy tried her best to get at Crystal, but I grabbed her.
“Calm down, boo,” I whispered.
“Lemme go, Jay!” She tried to squirm free.
“Stop it. We’re at a funeral,” I insisted, louder this time. She didn’t pay me no mind and lunged at Crystal again. “Goddammit, Kenya! Did you hear me? I said stop it!” I shook her and she stopped right away. I could hear a gasp from the crowd and then a whole bunch of whispering.
“Ohhh, no you didn’t.” Tracy tried to twist away, but she wasn’t lunging at Crystal anymore, she was just trying to get away from me. “You motherfucker!” She tried to kick me in between the legs.
“Will you stop it, Kenya? What’s wrong with you?” I looked at her evilly.
“I can’t believe you just called me her name again.” She swung at me.
“Whose name?”
“Your wife’s! You just called me by your wife’s name! Twice!”
“No I didn’t!”
“Yes, you did. You called me Kenya!”
“He sure did, honey,” some woman from the crowd yelled. “You lucky he didn’t call you by some other woman’s name. Many women as he mess with.” I didn’t bother to look for the culprit. I just figured it was some sister-hating player.
“I did not call you Kenya,” I told her sincerely. “Did I, Wil?” I looked back at him. His expression was clear. He did not want to be in this one, which basically meant I had fucked up and he couldn’t help.
“Look at you. Your own fucking friend even heard it! Let go of me!” Tracy pulled herself free and headed for the door. “I wanna go home.”
I finished my Heineken, thinking about my situation with Tracy. We’d been fighting for a week and she’d threatened to move out about ten times. Hell, she’d even packed her bags a few times. She’d really taken my slip of the tongue personally. Every time I turned around she was in my face, bringing up Kenya, Kenya, Kenya. Not that I could blame her. If she’d called me by some other guy’s name, I’d be pretty pissed too.
But what Tracy didn’t know was she was better off not mentioning Kenya at all. The more she brought up Kenya’s name, the more I started thinking about my wife. Things had gotten so bad that on at least five occasions I had to catch myself from calling her Kenya again. I guess deep down I had a little more love for Kenya than I had realized. Still, it didn’t compare to the love I had for Tracy. All I really wanted was for her to forgive me and put this Kenya stuff behind us.
Things had calmed down a little last night when Kyle’s landlord finally offered us a one-bedroom apartment in his building. The thought of moving out of that rat hole, not to mention the dozen roses I brought home, loosened up her mood, because she made dinner for the first time since the funeral and afterward she initiated our lovemaking. She even told me she was sorry and that she loved me when I left the house this morning.
“Hey, Judy, what d’ya think of this?”
Judy, a short, pudgy waitress at the Roadhouse Bar, placed another Heineken on a napkin. She watched as I opened up the small jewelry box I’d been holding.
“Damn, who you givin’ this to?” She took the box out of my hands and admired the contents.
I smiled. Even in the dim light of the bar the half-carat diamond engagement ring sparkled. I’d spent half the afternoon looking for a jewelry store that would give me enough credit to buy Tracy a nice ring. It wasn’t easy, but I found one in the Coliseum Mall in Jamaica. Now all I had to do was make sixty payments and the ring would be paid off.
“It’s for my girl, Tracy. I’m gonna ask her to marry me tonight.” I tried not to, but I couldn’t help it. I was grinning from ear to ear, at least until Judy spoke her mind.
“Get the fuck outta here! You? Married? Now that’s a laugh.” Judy slapped her hand against her hip and cracked up. She probably woulda bust a gut if she knew I’d been married the whole five years I’d known her and that I was actually still legally married.
“So where is this mystery woman? How come I’ve never seen her?”
“Oh, you’re gonna meet her real soon.” As soon as she turns twenty-one and can come into the bar, I thought, just as I spotted Diane walking in the door. Like I’d planned, she couldn’t see me sitting in the dimly lit, back half of the bar. I watched as she checked her watch then scanned the bar. She probably thought I was late or going to be a no-show.
“Hey, Judy, do me a favor.” I pointed toward the bar. “See that heavyset woman standing at the bar?” Judy turned to look at Diane.
“Yeah, what about her?”
“Tell her I’m back here.” Judy’s eyes widened.
“Is that the woman you gonna marry?”
“Nah, she’s just a friend.”
“Yeah, right, Jay. Everyone’s just your friend.” She shook her head and walked toward Diane. When she was out of listening range, I started punching a few numbers on my cell phone.
“Yeah?” a male voice said.
“Biggie, you ready?”
“Yeah,” the voice replied.
“Okay. She’s here. We’ll see you in a bit.” I clicked my phone off just as Diane approached. I smiled. She didn’t.
“Hey, Diane, how are you?” I pointed at the chair across from me and she sat down with a nasty look on her face.
“You got my money?” she snapped.
“I’m fine, Di. Thanks for asking,” I said sarcastically. “Would you like a drink?”
“Fuck the pleasantries, Jay. You know I don’t like you. I just want my money so I can go home. Now did Wil give you my money or what?”
“Yeah, he gave me your money, but there’s a few things we have to straighten out before I give it to you.” I paused, and when she didn’t bother to respond, I let her know what was on my mind. “Why you moving the kids to Atlanta? You know you’re wrong for that shit.”
“Huh,” she snarled, sitting back in her chair. “What the fuck gives you the right to tell me what to do with my kids?”
“You wanna know what gives me the right, Diane?” I reached inside my coat pocket and pulled out a folded check. “This gives me the right. Your money. Three thousand big ones. So if you want it, why don’t you relax and have a drink so we can get down to business? I mean, you do want your money, don’t you?” I folded my hands over my chest to let her know I intended to wait all night if that’s how she wanted to play it. “Now what are you drinkin’?”
“Long Island iced tea,” she sighed.
“You sure about that? They make the drinks pretty strong in here.”
“Will you just get me the damn drink?” She sucked her teeth impatiently.
“No problem. I’ll be right back.” I got up and walked to the bar.
When I returned to the table and handed Diane her drink, she had obviously given some thought to my question and decided she didn’t care. She was her usual cheery self, insulting me the second I sat down.
“So how are Kenya and girls?” She sipped her drink, and I wanted to smack the smug little grin off her face.
“Why you always playin’, Diane? You know Kenya and I aren’t together. You was probably the first person she called when I left her.”
“When you left her?” Diane laughed. “From what I saw on your porch, she kicked your ass out, Mr. My-bags-were-packed-for-me. Oh, by the way, what’s this I hear, you got some teeny-bopper pregnant and took her to Ma Jackson’s funeral?” She laughed again, and took a long swig of her drink. Any second thoughts I had about my plans for the evening were instantly forgotten. This bitch needed someone to put her in her place, and I would gladly be the one to do it.
“I’m sorry, Jay.” Diane stopped laughing and reached across the table to pat my hand. “From what I hear, Kenya still loves your sorry ass. If you were smart, you�
�d take your black ass home tonight.”
“You think so?” I raised my eyebrows and leaned forward to the edge of my chair. “You think she still wants me back?” I don’t know why I asked her that, or at least why I sounded so eager. Maybe it was out of curiosity and maybe a little bit of ego, but I really wanted to know what Kenya was thinking. Like I said before, with Tracy’s constant reminder, I did kinda miss Kenya. Diane’s cackle brought me back to reality.
“Hell fucking no, she don’t want you back! Who the hell would want your two-timing ass?”
“Oh, you’re funny as hell, Diane,” I frowned. “Is that how you kept Wil so happy all these years? Cracking jokes?” The laughter stopped and Diane shot daggers with her eyes.
“No, Wil’s just like you. He can’t be happy with just one woman. He needs three or four whores to keep him happy.”
“Y’know what, Diane? I been a player all my life. I can’t help it. My daddy was a player. My granddaddy was one. Shit, it’s just who we Crawford men are. But Wil, he’s only loved one woman his entire life, and that’s you. Kyle and them fucked up when they took those pictures, but you fucked up by being so damn stubborn and not believing in your husband. One day you’re gonna find out what really happened that night and then you’re gonna want him back. I just hope it’s not too late.”
“Oh, please!” She waved her hand at me. “Can we get on with this? I don’t need to hear no more sob stories for Wil Duncan. The way people been talkin’ you’d think he was a saint.”
“Yeah, we can get on with it. I’m just gonna get another beer.” I polished off what was left of the one I had and stood up. “You want another drink?” She picked up her drink, which was almost empty, and drained the glass.