by Tameka Hicks
“That’s what she told me? She visited me a week before you came and paid for a month in advance. She told me that you had been beating on her, and she wanted you out of her house. She knew that babies were not allowed on the premises, but I’m going to change that soon. You could’ve stayed here, had the baby and went home with her permission or sent the baby with foster parents and would’ve gotten custody once you’d completed the program. She told me to call her when I received any news about your pregnancy or when you went into labor. She paid me extra not to let you know about any of this.” She coughed. “When you went into labor she told me to give you something to make you incoherent but make sure it was some-thing safe enough for you and the baby and. I did. She had me to believe that you called her and threatened to kill yourself and the baby if you couldn’t leave with her after the baby was born, but she was too afraid of you coming back home with her. She gave you the papers to sign after the medicine had started to take effect. That covered me from being liable and that protected her as well. We kept you sedated for three days until she took Tia home to her foster parents.”
“Who are her foster parents?”
“Take a look at the file Tamara because there’s more that you need to know.”
“What?”
“Look in the folder.”
Tamara opened up the vanilla folder and began to read the documents. “I don’t remember discussing anything about an adoption. She came across two certificates of birth documents in the folder. “Wait a minute,” she whispered to herself. She looked at Miss Williams with her mouth wide open. “Is this information on here correct?”
“Yes it is.”
“I have twi-”
“Yes, you have twins Tamara.”
“A little boy and a girl, she named them Caylyn and Jaylyn Brown. They are fraternal twins but they look like you.”
She quickly searched for the name and the address of the family that had her babies. She dropped the folder out of disbelief. “I can’t believe this. I’ve talked to them and have seen some of them and not one of them told me.”
Tamara rested her head on the back of the chair.
“She had us all fooled. When you had your ultrasound, we discovered that you were carrying twins and she said she was going to take care of everything.”
“Mind if I take this?” She stuck the folder into her shirt. “I’m about to untie you but you still better act right. Okay?”
She quickly shook her head quickly. “Okay.”
“Thank you for the information and thank you for the proof,” she shook the tape recorder that she had used to record their conversation since she came out of the closet. She played some of it back to let her know that she wasn’t bluffing.
“The way I see it, I’ve talked to an attorney and everyone’s going to be in a shit load of trouble if I don’t get my babies back. Let’s see, you accepted a bribe from an ex-mental patient, I was drugged and tricked into signing consent papers to give my babies away. You-”
The phone rang. “Can I get it?”
She slouched down, untying her. “Get it.”
“I’ll be down in a minute.” She kept her eyes on Tamara. “Okay, start the ceremony.” She yelled. “I said, I’ll be there in a minute,” she hung up.
“Jeanette gave up all her rights as a parent to my grandmother, and she didn’t approve of me being here. Jeanette lied to you about everything. I wasn’t even living with her; I was living with my grandmother. I have never beat on Jeanette, in fact, it was the other way around, and she wanted to fight me all the time. Jeanette lost her baby and she hated me afterwards and this was her way of paying me back because I moved back at home with my grandmother. Jeanette is a mental case who hates her own child.”
“What took you so long to tell me?”
“Would you had believed me if I told you?”
Miss Williams paused for a moment.
Tamara answered for her. “No, you wouldn’t have because money motivated you.
You are just as guilty as she was, so either of you can place blame. You two were in on it together. You can’t tell on her without prosecuting yourself. I’ll make a deal with you. If you don’t mention this ordeal and as long as I get my babies back, we are straight. I won’t mention this scam to anyone, but I will have to let Jeanette know so I can get them back without any hassles. You know, I still have that reporter’s name and number. She’ll love to hear this story. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. See you at graduation,” she placed her weapon into her pocket and walked out. Miss Williams’ body collapsed onto her desk as it hit her how close she had just stared death in the face.
“How am I supposed to go downstairs and pretend like nothing happened?” She started to weep heavily and then she laughed hysterically. She thought to herself, I’m going to have to see a psychiatrist after today.
“When did you come up here?” asked the security guard.
“I came up here with Miss Williams after the fire. She had seen me in the hallway and asked me to come into her office with her. She congratulated me on my good grades. You didn’t see us?”
“No, I saw her, but not you.”
“And you call yourself a security guard? You’re fired Yolanda,” she laughed, but kept on stepping. “Stop watching those soap operas and do your damn job.”
DIARY ENTRY 12 Reunited August 1, 1994
The day of the graduation was very interesting, but nothing like the day I got out of that place. I know Miss Williams was glad when I left the center because she doesn’t have to peep around corners any longer searching for me. Well, that’s a lie because I told her to watch her back because she never knew if I would be behind the door or underneath her table. Based on what they’d done to me, they all should watch their backs from this day forward until I die. Tina and Tracey cried like babies after the graduation.
Randie and I, of course, were too hard to let anyone see us shed any tears. She’s going to miss me, and I’m going to miss her as well, minus the sexual stares she gave me from time to time, but she’s the true definition of a gangster bitch, and she didn’t care who knew it. Shit, Randie had more girls in there, than most guys who I knew out on the streets. She’s not a dumb girl; I think she likes being stuck in that place because of the girls. She’d helped me study for my biology and history tests numerous times, so she’s not stupid by a long shot. I had threatened to knock her teeth down her throat because she had a problem with licking people. Yes, I said licking people. That was nasty and weird. Out the blue she would just lick you. She said that I tasted like LEMON with her crazy ass. How can someone’s skin taste like a lemon? Was I sour or what? I always took showers, so I know my skin wasn’t salty or sour.
Randie stood five foot eight inches tall. She boyishly carried around two hundred and ten pounds. Her complexion was caramel. She kept her short hair whipped at all times because she could curl her own hair. She wasn’t an ugly girl, but she carried herself like a boy. Her body, I would imagine, was shaped like a girl, but she wore baggy clothes. It was apparent that she was the guy in the relationships. I’ve never seen her wear a dress or any make up, not even lip-gloss. A lot of the girls thought that I was gay because I hung out with her and Tracey. At first, I talked to them because I needed them to carry out my plans, but eventually we all became close friends. If they had to think that I was gay to get the job done, then so be it, because I’m secure about my sexuality.
My girl Tracey was trouble, but not quite as bad as Randie, She was the complete opposite of Randie. She was five feet four inches tall. She weighed one hundred and ten pounds. She was mixed (Hispanic and Black) with acne spots all over her face. She had long pretty hair. She knew that Randie was gay but that didn’t stop their friendship. How friendly were they? Who knows? Really, who cares? Mia and Randie didn’t like each other, but they’d had an unspoken rule not to test each other’s power. Mia was bigger than her, but I think Randie would’ve tapped that ass.
I’m
concerned about little Tina since I’m gone. Females didn’t like her and she never did anything to anyone. I asked Randie to protect her until she’s free, and I will personally come up there and pay her fifty dollars when I pick Tina up from the center in three weeks. She’ll do it because money moves mountains, especially when it’s pertaining to Randie. Bad shit motivated her also, but she’ll do it quicker for money. You know I had to throw in the deal for her not to have sex with her because she would have, without a doubt, made her sleep with her to protect her. She liked her, but Tina didn’t care too much for her, not even as a friend. I can say that Tina was my first true friend, so I have to protect her. Nikki was cool too, because she was the one that brought the gun and knife to the center. I don’t know where it came from but I didn’t have it loaded anyway. She slipped it into my pocket when she had visited me two months ago. We hugged and she dropped it into my pocket smoothly. My baby Tyrese had visited me all the time too. Charles didn’t visit that much, but he sent me money quite often, that’s all I wanted anyway.
My grandmother, Ashley, Lexis, Jeanette and Marion were present at the graduation. Diane had stayed at home because she wasn’t feeling well, or so they claimed. I heard that Lynette is addicted to crack cocaine. She had started smoking weed to help loosen her up before a show. She then joined with the wrong dancers who introduced her to snorting cocaine before each show. The club closed down, but she was hooked like metal to a magnet. She couldn’t afford to purchase the expensive stuff so she went to the cheapest drug to get her high, which was crack. She was in a rehab center because she had started to steal money from the grandma and didn’t have anywhere else to turn to. She sold grandma’s curling irons and her tennis bracelet that granddaddy had bought her. Grandma was furious. She would sneak around the house like a mouse looking for anything that wasn’t nailed down to the floor. Nikki told me that Lynette had looked horrible. I know you’re wondering about the baby. I had twins and they hid it from me. I didn’t say a word to Jeanette the entire time that she was at the center. I had to think about how I wanted to plan this one out. Tyrese came the next morning to pick me up around eight o’clock on my birthday. We went to a restaurant for breakfast and went downtown and talked to the attorney Karen Less. She explained to us that what they’d done to us as parents wasn’t legal. I could press charges against everyone who had participated in the situation about Tia. (I keep calling her Tia. Caylyn ) I found out a lot of valuable information. Jeanette wasn’t my legal guardian, so she couldn’t have placed me in the center in the first place. Grandma was the one that was supposed to have done that. They had me incapacitated when I signed the bogus foster parents/adoption papers. You have to go through the court system to get custody of a child.
Jeanette had made copies of a girl who really gave her kids to foster parents’ papers, but she didn’t go to court to legally put my kids in foster care. Another thing was that, they didn’t get consent from my kids’ father to put them in foster care or up for adoption, which are two different things. By him not signing away his rights as a parent, none of this could possibly be legal if she didn’t go to court.
Karen called her sister who was a detective at the ninth precinct on Gratiot and explained our situation to her. She told us to meet her in her office at two o’clock. I had gotten on the phone with her and gave her names and numbers of the guilty people. She talked to Tyrese and asked him a couple of questions. We shook hands with attorney Less and headed back to the eastside. We searched high and low for answers and the address of the person who had my babies. They had relocated so I looked for Lynette. I knew she was on drugs, and I would be able to get information out of her with the offer of a few dollars. She had gotten out of the rehab four days before I had arrived home, so I know she would be up to her old tricks. Just my luck, Mr. Love was playing the lottery at the corner store. I said what’s up and made small talk until I asked him if he’d seen or knew where Lynette hung out because the family was worried about her. Surprisingly, he had given me the address, the house color, the cross streets and everything. It made me wonder if he on that shit himself or just extremely fucking nosey. We followed his instructions and sure enough, we pulled up in front of the house on Crane Street, and she was walking onto the porch with a comforter set underneath her arm. Oh my god. She looked like a zombie. I couldn’t believe this was my pretty auntie that stood in front of me no bigger than a second with her two front teeth missing. As I looked at her, I instantly thought back to the last time that I had seen her. It was the day that I had left and went to the center. She told me to stay strong and take advantage of everything that this place had to offer me. She also told me that she didn’t agree with me going to this place, but she couldn’t do anything about it. I remembered turning around and she had tears rolling down her face. I noticed at that exact moment that she really cared about me. All those arguments we had didn’t mean a thing. She never hit me, no matter what I had said or had done to her.
But Alexis, that was a different ball game. She would pick up the closest thing to her and try and knock the fool out of me. We fought all the time, like a cat and a dog. I had quickly wiped my eyes because they started to water. Maybe the wind had gotten into my eyes, or was it my allergies? (Smile) Anyway, I had gotten out of the car and hugged and kissed my auntie on the cheek. She smiled at me and burst into tears. I grabbed her and we cried together right on the sidewalk in front of the house looking crazy. Lynette started laughing and that had stopped the crying process. Before I could ask her any questions she said,” You’re looking for Diane right?”
It shocked the hell out of me. “Yes, I am.”
I didn’t have to bribe her with money because she sang like a canary, telling me everything and more. I had offered her some money, but she wouldn’t take it from me, but when Tyrese thanked her and handed her the money, she snatched it from him and said with a smile, “I won’t take the money from my niece, but I will surely take it from you. Thank you.” I told her that I would be back for her. She helped me big time, and I will come back for her. We pulled off and she waved good-bye until we turned the corner. I was mad as hell when I found out that Diane and Marion had my twins the entire time and no one informed me. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they had told me that they had them. Both had good jobs, and they were family, so I wouldn’t have worried so much. Did they think I wouldn’t come back for my babies? I don’t understand their plans but eventually I would’ve found out.
Dark secrets always found their way to the light, my granddaddy always said. Then I found out that Diane and Marion separated last year. I guess she got tired of him whipping her ass. Diane was working out in Taylor, Michigan as a third grade teacher. Marion stopped drinking; and checked himself into an anger management program for six months. He had finished his last semester in school, and started a construction company in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He keeps in touch with the family for Sunday dinners and holidays. He wanted Diane back, but she claimed too much damage was done and she’s not ever going back to him. You thought he was fine before? Rehabilitated and fine as ever. Jesus Christ. No wonder why she moved to Taylor. Give a handsome man like him some money and he’s unstoppable.
We met with Detective Davison at two o’clock sharp. I had shown her the documents, and I let her listen to the tape of Miss Williams’ confession. She asked her about the placement of my babies. She claimed that it was just a temporary placement until I came home. She lied of course to cover her fat ass, which was a lot of lying to cover that big ass of hers. She gave Diane’s current address and place of employment. I didn’t ask anyone in the family because they couldn’t be trusted. Mrs. Davison was about her business; you could see it in her eyes. She had three children of her own, so she personally understood how we felt. She talked to Jeanette and had explained the situation to her about the fact that she had kidnapped her grandchildren, and I could’ve pressed charges. She called and talked to grandma for a while, and that’s when I found out that Jeane
tte had lied and said that I didn’t want them. I listened closely to this conversation because she was going to ask her questions that I wanted to know for some time now.
“Did you want Tamara to go to that center?”
“You didn’t, so why did you agree to it?”
“I didn’t want to get in the middle of that. That’s her daughter.”
“Didn’t you have sole custody of Tamara since she was born?”
“Yes, but what could I have done? She’s the mother.”
“Did you two ever go to court to reestablish her parental rights?”
“No.”
“Well Mrs. Brown, you were the only one that could’ve made the decision to place Tamara into that center. You were her mother no matter who gave birth to her. She had signed away her ability to make any important decisions about Tamara. That’s irrelevant now, but we need to find Diane, so we can get Tamara’s babies back.”
Detective Davison had explained the sensitive subject to her some more. I got on the phone with grandma, and she told me to come to the house and get her because we were going to get my babies without the police being involved. She made copies of the paperwork and told me that if everything didn’t go smooth, I was to come back and see her. She told me that she was going to call and warn Diane about my visit, and to have the babies ready and give them to us or risk going to jail for kidnapping if she didn’t turn them over to me. We were filled with joy; ecstatic was more like it. After we left the office, Tyrese did eighty all the way to the house. We were right up the street, less than three minutes away from the precinct. However, it took forever to get to Diane’s house. Diane called grandma on her cellphone and asked to speak to me.
She told me that she was waiting on me to call her. She told Jeanette to give me her phone number and address, but she never did. She had told Diane and Marion that I had threatened to kill the babies, and that I didn’t want to see them. She had planned on finding someone to adopt my babies for real but Marion said he would keep them because they were family. Plus Jeanette obviously couldn’t put them up for adoption because she wasn’t their parent. I had a million and one questions to ask her, and she answered every question that I had thrown at her. Diane wanted to bring the babies to the center for me to see them, but Jeanette lied and said that babies weren’t allowed at the center for protective reasons. They couldn’t live there but they could have visited. Diane figured that if I had seen them, I would’ve eventually changed my mind. She said on the weekend she was going to call around and find me because my kids were a hand full. She said with laughter, “I want you to come and get your little bambinas. I love my great niece and nephew, but they are bad as hell, like you were when you were younger. I’ll have them ready on the front porch with their things when you get here. I would never kidnap anyone’s child Tamara. You should know me better than that. When you had seen my name on the paper why you didn’t call me first?”