by E. N. Joy
The audience was enthralled. It was as if an ice-cold draft had come through the door and frozen everyone stiff in their seats. The judges barely took their eyes off the dancers long enough to write down any notes. They, too, didn’t want to miss a thing. By the time the girls finished their routine, it was clear they were going to be the highest-scoring group, regardless of how many performed after them. The standing ovation and the minute-long applause they received, not to mention the fact that a judge wiped a tear from her eye, were the dead giveaways.
An hour later, when it was time for the trophies to be awarded, Broadway Babes did a clean sweep, receiving first place in their solos and group performance.
“Congratulations, ladies,” was heard all around as the girls entered the dressing room to change back into their street clothes after receiving their awards.
“Thank you,” the girls said in unison, hugging their dance teacher first and then their moms.
“Mommy’s little angels were perfect,” Lorain said to the twins as each one hugged a leg. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thank you,” they chorused.
“Yes, you two did quite well,” Lorain heard a voice say.
Lorain closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Given that she was beefing with the doctors’ wives, dealing with the fact that Unique was back in town, and planning a surprise wedding, the last thing she needed was to have this woman try to get up under her skin. Because in all honesty, right about now, it wouldn’t take much to do so.
“Thank you, Ivy,” Lorain said. “Gabby did a wonderful job as well.”
“With as much money as my boyfriend spends on privates for her, she better.” Ivy laughed that irritating laugh of hers. In all actuality, it was a regular-sounding laugh, but to Lorain, because it was Ivy who was laughing, that laugh was irritating.
Lorain simply smiled.
“Mommy, we want to take privates too,” Victoria said.
“Yeah, so we can dance as good as Gabby,” Heaven agreed.
“As well as,” Victoria said, correcting her twin.
“Oh, even the children know star quality when they see it.” Ivy bent down to address Heaven and Victoria. “Keep working hard, darlings, and one day you’ll earn a solo because of your skills.”
The twins frowned. They weren’t quite sure what Ivy meant exactly, but they could tell that whatever it was, it wasn’t nice, otherwise Jacquelyn wouldn’t have quickly jumped in between their mother and Ivy as Lorain was reaching for Ivy’s hair.
“Lorain. The bus will be pulling off in a few,” Jacquelyn said, out of breath from having to make it halfway across the room at the speed of lightning in order to keep Lorain from doing a Sheree Whitfield when she pulled Kim Zolciak’s hair. “Let me help you get the twins back in their street clothes.”
“Why, thank you,” Lorain said to Jacquelyn as her eyes shot invisible daggers at Ivy. “Street clothes are appropriate, because something tells me I’m going to have to get street.”
Ivy walked away with a smug look on her face, leaving Lorain standing there and boiling all by herself. But that didn’t mean that eventually, Ivy wouldn’t get burned.
Chapter 13
Eugene stepped outside and inhaled deeply. Although the air itself didn’t have a smell, this particular breath he had taken in did. It smelled like freedom.
For four years Eugene hadn’t breathed the fresh air of freedom. Yeah, he’d had his time in the prison yard, but that wasn’t freedom. That was him in a bullring, having to constantly watch his back. A bullring that was surrounded by a barbed-wire fence that would bite at his skin like a school of piranhas if his flesh came into contact with it.
Eugene exhaled and then breathed in one more whiff, closing his eyes as he took it all in. “Ahhh,” he said, releasing his breath with a huge smile on his face. He was free and clear. No halfway house, either, because his mother had agreed to allow him to move back home with her, for at least ninety days, anyway. After that, Eugene knew what he had to do; he had to hit them streets again and make that paper. He wasn’t about to be thirty-something years old and talking about how he lived in his mama’s basement. But for now, he would enjoy the ninety-day vacay. Then he’d connect with his homies to see where he could get that candy to sell to those with a sweet tooth.
Wearing an outfit that resembled army fatigues—pants that hung loosely around his waist, an army jacket, and military-style boots—Eugene looked more like a new recruit who was finishing up basic training in the National Guard than a newly released felon. Six feet, six inches tall, he could easily be an NBA baller rather than a street baller.
He opened his eyes and began walking out to the parking lot, but then he stopped in his tracks. “Miss Korica?” he said, confused to see her standing there.
“Call me Mom,” Korica said. “After all, you are the father of my grandkids.” Korica opened her arms wide.
Eugene just stood there, looking at Korica like she was crazy.
“Come on here, boy, and show me some love.” She waved him to her with her hands, like she was directing traffic.
Eugene slowly moved toward Korica. He didn’t want to hug her, but he didn’t want to leave her hanging, either. This woman was one firecracker, and he didn’t want to give her any reason to pop off. But at the same time, he was clueless as to why she’d want a hug from him. She’d always hated his guts. The only times she’d ever been nice to him was when she wanted to be hooked up with a bag of weed . . . if she wanted something from him, period.
“Why you standing there, looking crazy? Give me a hug.” Korica opened her arms even wider.
With Korica blocking his path to the parking lot, there was only one other direction in which Eugene could go. He looked over his shoulder at the prison gate, which had closed behind him. That was definitely the worst of two evils. So, afraid not to follow her orders and to cause a situation, Eugene slowly walked over to Korica and leaned in. In his mind he was going to get this hug over with and keep it moving.
Korica threw her arms around Eugene and hugged him tightly. He didn’t return the gesture. He stood there and allowed her to embrace him like he was her long-lost son. Before she released him, she gave him a wet kiss on the cheek. He wasn’t a churchgoing fella. He had read the Bible in prison only because finding Jesus or Allah seemed like something to do to pass the time while locked up. He couldn’t recall too many Bible stories, but one that clearly came to mind at this point in time was the kiss of Judas, the one Judas gave Jesus right before he threw Him to the wolves. Eugene could almost hear howling in the distance.
“Now, come on and let’s go get you something to eat. I’m parked this way.” Korica pulled on Eugene’s arm, but his feet stayed planted where they were. “What? What is it, son?”
“Son?” Eugene asked out loud. Anytime she’d ever called him son, she’d called his mother a female dog afterward. Eugene couldn’t bite his tongue any longer. He was liable to get in that car with Korica and never be seen alive again. “What gives?” he asked. “You’ve shot digs at me and you’ve belittled me since the day Unique brought me to your doorstep and introduced me as her dude. Now, all of a sudden, you’re my best friend.”
He shook his head. “Uh-uh. I’m not buying it. What do you want from me, Miss Korica? I don’t have no money, and I ain’t got no weed, so you can stop pretending you like me, you can go on about your business, and you can let me catch the bus home.” Eugene attempted to walk around Korica.
“Wait. Hold up.” Korica grabbed Eugene by the arms. “Look . . .” Korica took a deep breath and then exhaled, as if she was giving in to something. “I know I’ve been a witch to you all these years. What mother is going to like the boy who knocks her teenage daughter up?”
Eugene gave her a look, as if to say, “Yeah, keep going.” There had to be something more. Certainly, she’d gotten over that after all these years.
“With all that’s happened, none of that matters anymore. You’re just the father of my
grandkids. I want to make things right. I can’t change the past, but I can admit and atone for my wrongdoings now and be able to move on with my life. So please forgive me. I know it may not mean much to you, but it would be the world to me.” Korica finished her little spiel and then waited on Eugene to reply. She was hopeful he would come around, as with each word she’d spoken, she’d appeared to chip away some of the ice. She could tell by the way his facial muscles relaxed.
Eugene looked her up and down. He even tried to look around her to see if she was concealing any weapons. Korica was real good at patting a person on the back with one hand, while preparing to stab them in that very same spot with the other. During the course of his relationship with Unique, Eugene had seen firsthand how Korica manipulated people in so many situations and lied to Unique so many times. Korica had made it almost impossible for him to believe anything she said. But so much time had gone by. They’d each suffered a tremendous loss. Perhaps Korica really did want to move on. After all, that was all he want to do.
Finally, Eugene replied, “I forgive you.” He exhaled, as if that had been the hardest thing he’d ever had to do in life. He’d never even forgiven his own mama for how badly she’d treated him while he was coming up, yet he’d forgiven this woman with whom he shared no bloodline. Anything was possible.
Korica’s face lit up, and she went to hug Eugene yet a third time.
“Hold up. Not so fast.” Eugene held his hands up, blocking Korica from putting her arms around him. “I’ll forgive you, but on one condition.”
Korica looked puzzled. What could Eugene possibly want from her? “Sure . . . What . . . what is it?” If he wanted her to help him with anything illegal, he was wasting his breath. Not that Korica hadn’t done illegal things in her day. But in Korica’s opinion, Eugene didn’t always play with a full deck, and he sometimes even showed his hand to the other players. She had to be careful with this guy. But unbeknownst to him, she was a little bit at his mercy as well.
“I need you to get your daughter to forgive me.” Eugene put his head down in shame. For years he’d harbored guilt and blamed himself for Unique being arrested for drug charges and for the death of all three of her children, one of whom was his child, namely, her oldest son. If it hadn’t been for him, Unique wouldn’t have been there when the drug house he was working in got raided, and her children certainly wouldn’t have been out in that car and left for dead. He didn’t know if he’d ever be able to forgive himself. The chaplain in the prison had told him that God had forgiven him. But the one person he was worried about forgiving him now was Unique.
He’d sent letters to Unique’s sister’s house while he was in jail, begging Unique for her forgiveness, but she had never replied to any of them. He took that as a sign that he wasn’t forgiven. She probably blamed him as much as he blamed himself, if not more. If she hadn’t tried to hunt him down after he ignored her calls and text messages for weeks, she never would have gotten mixed up in the raid. But he’d dipped and dodged her, knowing she was looking for him to try to get him to throw her some change for child support.
All his son’s life he’d given Unique only what he felt he could break her off, and she’d always accepted it without a complaint. “Something was better than nothing” had been her attitude. She’d say that she knew from the jump what type of dude she was dealing with, which was a street pharmacist, so she couldn’t complain about him. She’d chosen him as a father by lying down and having unprotected sex with him. Eugene had always taken advantage of Unique’s acceptance of him and her passiveness toward him. But that last time around, his selfishness cost him more than money. It cost him the life of his son.
One might think that such a terrible tragedy would have been a turning point in Eugene’s life, a reason for him to turn his life around for the better. If not for himself, then for the memory of his son. But now, with his only offspring buried six feet under, he had nothing to live for. Whatever happened to him while he got his hustle on, it happened. He was now a convicted felon, anyway. Copping that six-figure job on Wall Street was no longer an option. All he had was whatever it was the streets had to offer, and that was all he wanted. He knew there were only two ways out the game: death or jail. Well, he’d already done the jail thing, so all that was left was death. But what he needed before he left this earth was his baby mama’s forgiveness. Not having it was too heavy a burden to bear. It messed with his mind. He needed to free his mind.
“So do you think you can do that for me? Get your daughter to forgive me?” Eugene asked calmly, though it was clear from his voice that he was pleading.
Korica paused for a minute. She’d always had a great deal of influence over Unique. Eugene was aware of this, as Korica had gotten Unique to forsake him at times and side with her or do what she suggested. Korica had somehow ended up being the closest with Unique, out of all her kids. Perhaps it was because young Unique had clung to Korica like pollen to a bee. The poor child had been thrown away so many times, she’d expected that Korica would ultimately do the same to her. Some nights Korica would wake up to find Unique sitting at the foot of her bed, struggling to stay awake so that she could watch her.
“Girl, what are you doing in here?” Korica would say once she spotted Unique in the middle of the night.
“Waiting for you to try to go away,” a sleepy Unique would say, “so I can go with you.”
“Child, I ain’t going nowhere. Take your tail on back to bed.”
Unique would stay planted where she was, as if Korica hadn’t said a word.
“Did you hear me? Do you want a whuppin’?”
Unique would nod. “As long as you don’t leave me. I don’t want no more mommies.”
Korica would have to do everything she could think of to keep from breaking down in tears. And every time she’d end up allowing Unique to climb in bed and sleep with her. Unique would hold on to Korica for dear life while they slept, trying with all her might to make sure Korica didn’t get away from her. Korica would often wake with little Unique’s nail impressions deep in her skin. It hurt to some degree, but not nearly as much as the impression that abandonment had left on the young girl’s heart.
It would break Korica’s own heart, causing her to overcompensate Unique in love and attention in an attempt to make up for what the girl hadn’t received earlier in her life. Korica had an idea of what it felt like not to be wanted, to be thought of as nothing but trash that could be easily thrown out. This forged an unbreakable bond between the two, a bond that couldn’t have been stronger had they been related by blood.
Once Unique got older, she realized the sacrifices Korica had made for her. She’d always felt indebted to the woman who had once lived next door but then had taken her in as her own. She’d always obeyed Korica, respected her, and tried to follow everything she said. She had never wanted to give Korica a reason not to want her around. While she knew that Unique would change over the years, Korica hoped that the younger woman’s sense of obligation toward her wouldn’t. Korica was almost certain that it hadn’t and wouldn’t, considering that she wouldn’t be living in the house she lived in now if it weren’t for Unique. Korica would hate to have to take advantage of Unique’s sense of obligation toward her, but she would if it meant that she’d get what she wanted.
Korica put aside these thoughts and focused on Eugene. “I can talk to her,” she told him.
“Good, because I know she always listens to you,” Eugene said. His facial expression was hopeful because he’d witnessed what he referred to as the “power” Korica had over Unique. As far as he was concerned, he was as good as forgiven.
“So come on.” Korica grabbed him by the arm, and the two started walking toward her car.
Eugene stopped. “One more thing,” he said to Korica. “You keep saying I’m the father of your grandkids. For one, my son is gone, so technically, I’m not anybody’s father anymore. And two, you keep saying grandkids, with an s. What’s that about?”
&nbs
p; A wicked grin spread across Korica’s face. “I’ll tell you all about it in the car.”
Chapter 14
“Surprise!”
“Oh, my God. Honey, what are you doing here?” Unique was surprised, all right.
“I was in the neighborhood and decided to stop in,” he replied.
“In the neighborhood? All the way from West Virginia, huh?” Unique said as she stood in her doorway with her fist on her hip, bouncing as she waited for a reply.
“Yep, and I picked these up along the way.” He whipped a bouquet of flowers from behind his back and extended it to Unique.
“Get in here, you.” Unique pulled him into her apartment and closed the door behind him.
She’d ordered a pizza, so when there was a knock on the door, she’d simply dug for a twenty-dollar bill in her purse, taking so long that she flung the door open in a hurry after grabbing the money. Instead of finding the pizza man, she’d found her man . . . all the way from West Virginia.
Unique shot him a naughty look before stepping up to him, taking the bouquet, and hugging him.
“Mmmm,” he said, relishing the comforting arms of the woman he’d fallen in love with over the past few months. “So you are glad that I’m here?”
“Yes, I am,” Unique said. “And obviously, you are too.” She made googly eyes at him.
“Girl, cut it out.” He playfully pushed her away. “You know I’m celibate, so don’t try to lure me into a life of sin with them ole sexy eyes of yours.” He looked her up and down. “And them sexy legs.” He stared at Unique’s legs, which were hanging out of the pajama shorts she’d been lounging in.
“Those you can forget about getting in between until we’re married.”
Dead silence. First came love, and now the word marriage had been put out there.
The knock on the door couldn’t have come a second sooner.
“I’ll get it!” Unique said quickly, and a little loudly. She handed the flowers to her beau to hold while she opened the door.