He didn’t know how he was going to get rid of this Samuel Jenkins character, though. Although he didn’t want to hurt his mother, Jeffrey just didn’t believe they needed this man in their lives.
Jeffrey ran off down the street away from his sister. He wanted to get to Eddie’s so they could talk. Eddie was like a big brother to him. He helped him with his schoolwork. Eddie was really smart like that. That’s why he was such a good businessman.
“Hold up there, young blood,” Eddie said as Jeffrey charged into his apartment. Eddie lived in a super nice brownstone around the corner from Jeffrey’s third-floor walkup. 55 East 76th Street was like a palace to Jeffrey. Eddie’s lifestyle at the age of twenty-five was something Jeffrey hoped to climb to by the time he was twenty. And if he continued with Eddie, he knew he would reach his goal. He looked up to Eddie Purdie. Jeffrey knew Eddie would find a way for him to get Samuel Jenkins away from his family before it was too late.
“Hey, Jeffrey, what’s up little dude?” Eddie asked. He cared what went on with this young man who had become a big part of his life. “Somebody chasing you, boy?” Eddie asked, looking toward the door in case he had to make a quick move.
“Naw, just running away from my twin,” Jeffrey said, catching his breath and looking around to make sure they were the only two there in the ultra-modern apartment. As he looked at the furnishings Eddie had acquired over the years, Jeffrey dreamed more and more of becoming like Eddie, his idol, his mentor. “That man wants to go out to dinner as a family. I’m not going,” Jeffrey said defiantly.
Eddie considered his young friend and remembered twelve years or so ago when he was in the same predicament. He had never known his father. His mother was a prostitute and he was a surprise.
Dealing with the many pimps that came into his mother’s life, Eddie was determined to never be under the thumb of any of those so-called “uncles” or “father figures” his mother frequently brought home. He knew how Jeffrey felt. He wanted to help him take care of the situation. Jeffrey was very important to his organization. He didn’t want any flies in the ointment of the mechanisms.
“J-man, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.” Eddie pondered how this would affect young Jeffrey and what his response would be. “There are ways to get this man out of your life if you are willing to take the chance of your mom finding out you are behind it.” Eddie offered.
“What, Eddie? What are you talking about?” Jeffrey asked, brightening at the mere thought of something to get Samuel Jenkins out of his life for good.
“Well, Jeffrey, if you wanted, we could arrange an ‘accident’ to happen to your stepdad. It could be either a drive by or someone could ‘rob’ him while he is on the train,” Eddie offered. He looked at Jeffrey’s face to see what emotions the boy experienced while considering Eddie’s proposal.
Jeffrey sat at the dining room table where all the drug transactions took place for this small-time drug lord. Eddie had at least $2500 a day, seven days a week, coming in. He paid his runners well for their efforts. In all the time Jeffrey had worked for him, only one person had tried to scam Eddie. Eddie quickly took care of the offender by having one of his goons break an arm and a leg on the scammer.
Jeffrey thought about Eddie’s offer. He could have it done and look clean to his mother. It was definitely something to think about. Having Eddie as a mentor, Jeffrey matured a lot quicker than some of the friends he used to hang out with. He had seen some things his mom wouldn’t even let him watch on TV. He knew about life and he knew about death. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted Samuel Jenkins out of his life bad enough to have him “accidentally” killed.
“Let me think on that, Eddie,” Jeffrey replied. He wasn’t sure but was willing to give it some thought. “Hey, I gotta go,” he said as he went back toward the front door of the apartment.
“All right, young blood. I’ll catch you later,” Eddie promised, answering one of the many phone lines around the dining room table.
Jeffrey ran down the stairs to the street. He really didn’t have to go since he wasn’t planning on going to dinner with his family. But maybe I will go, he thought. Maybe I will see something that will help me make a decision about this man, he thought as he jogged toward their apartment building.
Jeffrey arrived just in time to see his mom going through the front door of the building, two bags of groceries in her hands.
“Hey, lady!” he yelled across the street. “You want a hand with dose groceries?” His mom turned around and smiled in his direction. He had loved that smile for so long. It always brightened his day no matter how dark it was.
“Ooh, a handsome young man to carry my bags,” his mom played along. She daintily handed the bags to him and curtsied cutely. “Oh, thank you, kind sir. How gallant of you!” she exclaimed.
Jeffrey held the door open for her and grinned. The elevator was out again, as usual, so they headed toward the steps. He answered the usual questions about school, homework, and such. As they reached the third floor, the door swung open as Samuel greeted his bride of less than six months.
“I knew I heard that voice,” he said as he swung Ree off the floor.
Jeffrey observed his mother and this man Samuel Jenkins as they interacted. His mom seemed so happy. He loved to see her smile. Over the years, Jeffrey knew it hadn’t been easy for her as a single mother. She always had to work so hard to support him and his twin. But as a courier for Eddie, he had it covered.
Jeffrey had found a way to access his mom’s bank account and add money every once in a while. He added it in small enough amounts so she wouldn’t get suspicious. It worked out well. When it was time to buy presents and stuff, he always told her he had a little knock-around job giving him enough for the presents. He enjoyed being the man in their little house. He enjoyed taking care of his mother and sister. He didn’t see why they needed this man to do anything. Jeffrey wanted to get rid of him.
“Jeffrey, go change clothes,” his mom said, breaking through his reverie. “We’re going out to dinner this evening as a family.”
Jeffrey had to admit his mother had never looked prettier. Since Samuel Jenkins had come into her life, his mom had lost the worry lines. She actually smiled now. But Jeffrey wasn’t going to let that stop him from doing what he felt he had to do—get rid of Samuel Jenkins.
In the Unseen …
Destroyer observed the interaction between the boy, his mother, and his stepdad. He knew he only had to push a little for Jeffrey to go over the edge.
“Hatred,” Destroyer called to his minion waiting patiently for the right time to come forth with this family.
“Yes, my lord Destroyer,” Hatred replied, bowing before this powerful demon. Like his name suggested, Hatred hated everything and everybody. There was no loyalty or love anywhere in his slimy stinking soul. He intended to keep it that way for all eternity.
“Throw something at the boy. Cause him to make a decision about getting rid of the man. Fill his heart with such hatred for the man he will forget about his love for his mother. Cause him to do whatever it takes to get the man to leave their home. Do you understand?”
“Yes, lord Destroyer. I will empower him with raw hatred for this man, such hatred he has never felt before in his short, pathetic life, my lord,” Hatred promised.
Hatred moved toward the boy and whispered in his ear, “Don’t you want to have dinner with just your mom and sister?”
In the Seen …
“Mom, why can’t you, Joycie, and I go out to dinner alone? We haven’t spent any time together, alone, since we came back from down South,” he asked, completely ignoring Samuel.
Samuel stood back, knowing where this conversation could go if he were to step in. He decided to let Ree take care of it. He understood why the boy disliked him—he was a man. The boy felt he was the man of the house and that was the way it should be. He didn’t know what to do because he really wanted things to work out with Ree and the twins.
“
Jeffrey, Samuel wants to take us out as a family, honey,” his mom explained, flashing her eyes, trying to help him understand. Marie wanted this family thing to work out. She had dreamed of a man such as Samuel coming into her life to help her with the children and to have a family. Now that he had, her son didn’t like him. And now that she was …
“Mom, why do you keep trying to make us a family with this man? I neither trust nor like him and I wish he would go away,” Jeffrey yelled at his mother. Ree was taken aback. Jeffrey had never yelled at her before.
Samuel stepped forward now. This boy was yelling at his beloved wife. That, he couldn’t bear.
“Now, son,” Samuel began. Jeffrey cut him off before he could go any further.
“I am not your son!” Jeffrey countered, fire in his eyes. Hatred welled up in his heart as he thought about Eddie’s suggestion. Jeffrey made his decision—he hated this man enough to see him gone.
Suddenly turning sweetly to his mother, Jeffrey asked, “Mom, can I change in a few minutes? I have to go do something really quick.”
“Sure, son,” Ree said, glad the fire was out for now. “Just hurry up, OK?”
“OK, mom,” Jeffrey promised as he ran out the door of the apartment. He hurried around the corner to Eddie’s brownstone apartment, hurrying so he wouldn’t change his mind. When he arrived at Eddie’s door, he knocked on the door once and walked in. He had it like that with Eddie. “Eddie,” Jeffrey called, not seeing Eddie in the living room. “Eddie, it’s me, Jeffrey,” he called again.
“Hold on, J-man,” Eddie called from the bathroom. He stuck his head out the door with toothpaste around his mouth. “Hold on, little dude. Let me finish up in here,” Eddie said, closing the door.
Jeffrey hung out in the living room waiting for Eddie. A bundle of nerves, he clenched and unclenched his fists as he thought about the retribution he was about to shower on Samuel Jenkins. He would show him who the man was.
As Eddie walked into the living room, he could tell his young friend had made up his mind. He had already contacted the thug who would do the job because he knew how much the boy hated his stepfather.
“Eddie, I want it done,” Jeffrey said, lifting his head boldly, making eye contact with his mentor.
As he made the request, Jeffrey realized there was no turning back. He wanted Samuel dead.
FORTY FIVE
After a very filling soul-food meal at Queenie’s Restaurant on 103rd Street in Flushing, Samuel, Ree, and the twins went outside to take a stroll down the street toward the subway station.
“Anybody for ice cream?” Samuel asked, holding Ree’s hand as they slowly walked.
Having received the best news of his life, Samuel was on cloud nine. Ree was expecting a baby, his baby. He had never felt this good in his life. Even the fiasco with Jeffrey paled in comparison with the news Ree shared with the family at the restaurant.
“Samuel, twins,” Ree had said, a soft, shy smile playing around her lips. “I have something to tell you.”
The twins looked first at each other and then at their mother. Samuel, just as unsuspecting as the twins, looked expectantly at his wife as well. “What is it, Ree?”
“I am going to have a baby!” Ree exclaimed. A shout of joy came from Samuel as he realized what this meant—he was going to be a daddy. Not just to the twins, his own baby as well.
“Mom, you’re going to have a baby?” asked Joyce, incredulously looking from her mother to her stepdad. “But how? Aren’t you too old?” Joyce asked seriously.
Jeffrey sat in horrified silence. He hadn’t thought about this. He would have to stop the hit against Samuel and just live with it. The hit was supposed to go down tonight on their way home.
Eddie figured if it happened while the family was together, no one would suspect Jeffrey had anything to do with it. But Jeffrey couldn’t let it happen now. He realized his mom must really love this man to have a kid with him. And it would be his fault if the kid did not have a dad to grow up with.
“Jeffrey, son,” Ree asked, concerned since Jeffrey hadn’t said anything after her announcement. “Are you all right? Don’t you have anything to say?”
“Umm, congratulations,” was all he could get out of his mouth. He looked from his mom to Samuel who was beaming like the moon. What was he going to do? He couldn’t let it happen now, could he?
“Mom, I don’t feel so good,” Jeffrey said, not looking well at all. “Can we go home now?” he asked, hoping they would miss the guy Eddie was sending to take Samuel out tonight on their way home.
“Jeffrey, you do look a bit sick,” Ree agreed, feeling his forehead for a temperature. Sensing none, she looked at Samuel, signaling it was time for them to go home.
Samuel paid for the meal, left a tip, and led the family out to the street. When they hit the sidewalk, Jeffrey looked around to see if he recognized anyone that would be a threat to Samuel.
As he turned to look at Samuel and Ree, he saw him. C-Murder Crawford quickly approached Samuel, a knife in his hand. All Jeffrey could do was react.
“Nooo,” he yelled, grabbing Samuel by the shoulders and spinning him away from C-Murder. As C-Murder’s fist came down with the knife, driving it deep into Jeffrey’s back, Jeffrey looked into Samuel’s eyes, a stricken look on his face as he breathed his last words, “I’m sorry.”
The knife found its way to Jeffrey’s heart with no other route. C-Murder quickly released the handle of the knife and spun around, running back in the direction from which he had come. None of them remembered seeing the face that committed the crime. All they saw was Jeffrey’s face as he passed from this life to the next.
In the Unseen …
“Nooo,” bellowed Hatred. The set-up had been perfect. C-Murder had hidden in the alley the family would pass as they left the restaurant headed toward the subway. He couldn’t miss. But he did. Destroyer was furious.
“There will be Hell to pay,” shouted Destroyer, contemplating his next move. The man was supposed to die, not the boy. At the very last moment, the boy had obviously changed his mind. He succeeded in saving his mother’s husband while losing his life.
In the Seen …
“Oh my God,” Ree screamed as she gathered her son into her arms. “Somebody call an ambulance, please!” she shouted as blood ran through her fingers from the wound in her son’s back.
Samuel and Joyce stood back, stunned at what had just occurred.
“He saved my life,” Samuel repeated over and over. He finally sprang into action as he realized Jeffrey needed medical attention quickly. Running back toward the restaurant they had just left, Samuel wondered at the strength his wife was showing in the face of disaster concerning one of her—their—children.
God, please let the ambulance get here in time to save Jeffrey, he silently prayed, running into the restaurant to use their telephone.
Joyce felt as though she too had been stabbed when her brother collapsed to the ground. She recognized the face of the guy who stabbed her brother. He was one of the thugs Jeffrey hung out with. Why would he want to stab her stepfather and instead stab her brother? Something wasn’t right but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
Joyce ran to her mother and brother as her mother sat on the ground cradling Jeffrey and screaming for help. People milled around trying to see what had happened in the diminishing light. Joyce looked at her twin just as he opened his eyes, tears flowing from the corners down onto the pavement.
“I’m sorry,” Jeffrey said faintly as his life’s blood coursed from the wound in his back, blood gurgling from his mouth.
Joyce put her ear next to his trembling lips as Jeffrey said those two words again, “I’m sorry.”
Why would Jeffrey be sorry unless … no, that couldn’t possibly be the reason. She knew Jeffrey had changed a lot over the past year or so but it couldn’t possibly be what she was thinking. In fact, she wouldn’t let herself think that. Not Jeffrey, not her twin.
Joyce held her brother’s hand a
s her mother cried and rocked Jeffrey like he was a little boy again. Marie stopped rocking when she felt her son’s body quiver then become very still. Not wanting to believe but knowing it was so, Marie screamed one long heart-wrenching cry of agony as she realized her son, Jeffrey Earl Jones, had taken his last breath.
Joyce felt the slackness in her brother’s hand as she held onto it. She looked at her mom’s face as she cried, sobbed, asking God to bring Jeffrey back. Joyce looked at her brother. His eyes glassy, his jaw slack, Jeffrey had stopped breathing. Joyce crumpled to the ground as she realized that her brother, her twin, was dead.
Emmaline
FORTY SIX
November 1975
Mama,” shouted sixteen-year-old Emmaline Johnson over the din of the pre-Thanksgiving activity in their kitchen.
Her mom, Maybelle, was cooking up a storm. Her younger brother and sister, eight-year-old AJ Jr. and twelve-year-old Cardrina, were in the way more than helping as Maybelle prepared the sweet potato and apple pies she was making early to put in the freezer for Thanksgiving a week away.
“Mother,” Emmaline shouted again, trying to get Maybelle’s attention to ask her the most important question of her life.
Things calmed down for a moment as Maybelle shooed Cardrina and AJ out of the kitchen so she could hear what Emmaline wanted. Her little Emmaline had grown into a lovely young woman. Quiet, shy, and as smart as Einstein, Emmaline was tall at five foot seven in her stocking-feet. She was lanky compared to Maybelle and her mother and sisters.
Emmaline Ruth Johnson was a beautiful dark-skinned girl with short, thick, coarse hair. Her mother had finally allowed her to relax her hair so Emmaline could take care of it herself as she got older.
The Baby Chronicles Page 21