Gets No Love

by Eric Pete

  While strolling back in the wee hours, I noticed Vaughn’s police car parked on the curb in front of Renika’s place. Her lights were still on. The dark blue letters NOPD on its door looked almost black in the darkness. Must’ve just come off his shift, I casually thought, the smell of the chicken consuming all of my attention. Noises . . . no . . . shouting coming from Renika’s place, then the swift movement of shadows on her blinds beckoned to me as I walked on by. That part of me that I like to refer to as “common sense” told me to ignore it. I never was a good listener. I took one last sniff of my food before clenching the bag tightly and proceeding back down the first flight of stairs I had begun ascending.

  As I walked briskly toward Renika’s door, I realized the shouting was coming from Vaughn. As quiet as the complex was at the time, his loud roar carried through the thin panes of her front window.

  “Shit,” I muttered to myself before I placed my knuckles against the door and knocked twice. “It’s Lance,” I called out before anyone answered, for fear of bullets ringing out first and questions later. No bullets came, just an eerie silence that seemed to go on. I made out the sounds of somebody whispering, then movement inside. I instinctively backed away from the door as footsteps approached.

  “Who is it?” Vaughn called out sharply.

  “Lance . . . from upstairs.”

  Again I waited. Just when it seemed like nobody was going to open the door and when I was getting really uncomfortable, the door opened partially. Vaughn stuck his head out through the crack and stared at me. I couldn’t see anything past him. He was still wearing his uniform shirt, although unbuttoned, as well as his gun holster. He didn’t ask any questions but just looked and waited for me to say something.

  Deciding to end the awkward standoff, I clumsily spoke. “I thought I heard yelling and was just checking on y’all.”

  “Everything’s straight in here, man. Thanks for lookin’ out though.”

  “So . . . everything’s cool?” I asked, pushing for more of an answer.

  “Yep. Ain’t that right, Neek?” he said as he stepped back in the doorway to yell across the apartment. At his coaxing, Renika walked into view next to him. An oversized shirt draped down to her bare legs. She seemed very quiet and her arms were folded tightly, like she was hiding something.

  “I didn’t think anybody heard us,” she said as she unfolded her arms and put one around Vaughn’s waist. I watched her strain to crack a smile. “We get kinda loud when we joke around. That’s just us. Vaughn was imitating someone he arrested tonight and I was laughing at him.”

  “Oh. Look, I’m sorry to bother y’all two. I was just coming back from Chicken Box and—”

  “Anything else you need, neighbor?” he blurted out quickly, interrupting me. “ ’Cause it’s late, I’m tired, and wanna unwind with my woman here.”

  “Nah. Y’all have a good night.”

  Vaughn was already smothering Renika with kisses and groping her ass up underneath her shirt as he pushed the door shut, forgetting about me. I took them at their word, but still had an unsettled feeling about things. One final glance back revealed their apartment lights were now turned off, leaving them to the lovemaking session I’m sure they were just beginning. My chicken was getting cold, so I thought about it no more and was on my way.

  15

  I leered at Robert’s BMW—it was taking up space in the driveway on this Sunday morning. As I parked in the street, I wondered what he was doing there at this time. Rather than sit and stew, I decided to seek my answers inside.

  Robert was just coming out as I walked up. I was there to pick up Bobby for the day and didn’t have time for this goof. I didn’t know him all that well, but he seemed the sort to think he was more important than he actually was.

  “What’s up, Robert?” I asked as he gave me a fake smile. It was less of a greeting and more of a way of telling him to step aside.

  “What are you here for today, Lance?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m here to pick up Bobby.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yeah . . . really. You know if he’s ready up in there? He falls a lot, but he still loves to go to Skate Country.”

  Robert stretched his neck and looked up while letting out a chuckle. I wanted to punch him dead in his exposed throat. “Y’know. I really want to thank you for all you’ve done for my son,” he said as he looked at me. The hand he extended for me to shake took me aback.

  “Believe me, it wasn’t for your benefit or gratitude. I did it because I love him . . . and Val,” I said as I firmly grasped his outstretched hand and squeezed.

  “But,” he said, pausing for dramatic effect, “you’re no longer needed.”

  “Say what?” I said, pulling Robert into me to make sure I heard him correctly.

  “You heard me. I’m not trying to start something with you, but your time is up, bro. Y’see I—”

  “Fuck you.” I discarded his hand and was preparing to stick my foot up his ass.

  “I’m just saying that I’m back in Bobby’s life . . . like I should have been from the beginning.”

  “But you ran, like a punk.”

  “Yeah, that’s it. Throw words around. Doesn’t change anything. I’m back for my son.”

  “Do you even know his shoe size?”

  “Well . . . I—”

  “How about his favorite movie? No, no. I’ll make it easy for you—his favorite color.” I paused with a smirk on my face, watching Robert dumbfounded. “Nah. Didn’t think you knew.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said calmly. “I’m his father.”

  Our conversation was about to turn unpleasant when Bobby came running out the door. He scurried past Robert and flew into my arms.

  “Daddy, I don’t wanna go!” he yelled. I didn’t know what he was talking about but I knew who he was talking to—me. It brought me some perverse joy seeing that Robert dug his meaning as well.

  “What do you mean? You don’t want to go to Skate Country today?”

  “Yeah, I wanna go,” he sniffled. “But I can’t. Mommy told me to go with him.” I never heard such venom in a five-year-old’s voice. If it hurt Robert, he didn’t let on.

  “You know anything about this?” I asked him as he waited for me to hand Bobby over like a batch of clothes from the dry cleaners.

  “Yes. He’s coming with me for the day. Hand him over.”

  “He’s not a bag of groceries, y’know?”

  “I don’t wanna go with him, Daddy Lance. Talk to Mommy. Make her listen,” Bobby pleaded, his face buried into my shoulder. There was nothing funny going on but I had to chuckle at that remark. If I had any success at making Val listen we’d be married now, I grimly thought.

  “Look, I’m not trying to come between you and your son, Rob, but little man here was looking forward to this. Can’t you assert your manhood or spine or whatever another day?”

  “Give me my son, Lance. Now.”

  I opened my mouth to challenge him, but reined in my pride. Bobby wasn’t property to be argued over and I wasn’t going to let him see me coming to blows with his biological. Just then, Valerie came to the front door. She saw the look on my face and turned away from my gaze. I placed Bobby’s little feet on ground and bent down to holler at him for a second.

  “Tell you what. We’re going to go to Skate Country next week and we’re going to stay twice as long. And when we leave, I’ll even get you a snow cone from across the street. That sound good?”

  “Yeah,” he said as he wiped the tears from his eyes and cleared his throat. “I guess.”

  “Now, go with your daddy, alright?”

  “Okay.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  I watched the M5 back up with Bobby waving at me from the backseat. The black car sped off taking them on whatever activities Robert had planned for the day. I hadn’t noticed but Valerie was holding the door open for me.

 
“Coming in?” she asked.

  Val knew I was steamed and didn’t slow as we walked the hallway.

  “Want to fill me in on what just happened?” I raised my voice slightly to get her to stop. “You knew I was coming here to get Bobby.”

  “And I let Robert come here and take him anyway?” she spoke, finishing my thought for me. “Yes, I did. He’s the boy’s father, Lance.”

  “How can you even call him that?”

  “Because it’s the truth.”

  “That’s bullshit and you know it.”

  “He’s trying to get closer to his son.”

  “His son? I raised that boy.”

  “Wrong. I raised Bobby. Don’t let everything you’ve done for us cloud things. I’m his mother. I’m the one who makes the decisions in his life. I’m the one who shed tears when he cried from being circumcised. I’m the one who got up with him in the middle of the night when he had colic. I’m the one who has to make those hard choices and I’m going to continue making them.”

  Valerie didn’t realize it, but she was poking her fingers into my chest.

  “You sound a lot like my mother,” I said as I grasped her hand before she wore a hole in my shirt. “I chose my words incorrectly. I just meant that I’ve done more for Bobby than he has.”

  “It’s not a contest though, Lance,” she said, waving her arms about in frustration. “I want Bobby to know his father. I’m not the kind of person to be bitter and use my son as a pawn. It’s a little late, but if Robert wants to try to be there, then I’m going to let him.”

  “I still don’t like it.”

  “Tough.”

  “So my opinion doesn’t matter?”

  “Not when it comes to Bobby. And neither does Robert’s if that makes you feel any better.”

  “He’s up to something.”

  Seeing where I was going, Valerie opened her mouth and uttered two words. “He’s leaving.”

  “What?”

  “Robert’s leaving. He got a promotion and is moving to North Carolina.”

  “Oh,” I said, suddenly realizing things. “So, he wants to spend some time with Bobby before he leaves. I wish you had told me that sooner. Maybe I wouldn’t have been such an ass. I understand now.” I took a deep breath and let a smile creep across my face. I hoped it would have caused Val to reciprocate, but she still looked tense.

  “He wants Bobby to move with him.”

  “I knew he was up to something!” I yelled, punching my fist into the palm of the other hand. “See, I thought he was coming around trying to push up on you again. Man, I was wrong.”

  “Lance.”

  “Yeah?”

  “He wants me to move there as well. He wants us to be a family.”

  I snickered. “And you told him where to jump off, right?”

  Silence.

  “Right?”

  “Lance, I . . .”

  “Naw. Naw. Tell me I’m not hearing this,” I said as I grimaced and started pacing back and forth in the hallway. Val’s picture with Bobby at six months old on the wall observed me in my unnerved state. I wasn’t in the photo, but imagined Robert’s image filling in next to the two of them instead. There went my hands rubbing across my bare scalp. “Dammit girl, what did you tell him?”

  “What’s going on out here?” Wayne Lewis, the normally reserved giant of a man, had decided to assert himself in his home. Our raised voices must have disturbed him. Except for the height, attractive shape, and temper that she got from her mother, everything else on Val—from her hair color to her skin tone and freckles—came from his side of the family.

  “Daddy, we were just—”

  “Nothing, Mr. Wayne. Nothing’s going on. Nothing at all.”

  “Lance, wait! Let me talk to you,” she said as I slammed the door behind me and took my leave.

  16

  “Thought you was hangin’ with the little tike today.” The smoke from his cigar escaped out the window into the hot lakefront afternoon air.

  “I was.”

  “You gonna be silent like this all fuckin’ day? Shit. You creepin’ me out.”

  “Nah, bruh. I’m just checking out the sights. Where did all this ass come from? I haven’t seen it crowded like this out here in a long time.”

  “Yeah,” he chuckled. “That’s ’cause they heard AK would be up in this mug. Good thing you caught me before I left the crib to come out here. I’d have my whip filled by now with straight dime pieces and you’d be forced to walk behind the Escalade.”

  “Whatever, Pimp Daddy.”

  “Fo’ sho, fo’ sho!”

  If there ever was a spot to see or be seen at, it had to be the lakefront on the waters of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans on the weekend. It wasn’t my scene anymore, but when Akhet allowed me to hang with him even after our argument, I welcomed the change of scenery. NOPD was out directing traffic and making sure it kept moving, bringing Renika’s boyfriend to mind.

  Spotless and sparkling cars, trucks, and sport-utes were jam-packed bumper to bumper. Inside these chrome-rimmed and candy-painted creations were brothers competing for the attention and affections of equally interested females. From ghetto-fab with hair that resembled gazebos and braided-up sisters who were down for their niggas to Dolce & Gabbana–wearing social climbers and snotty sisters who pretended like they would rather be anywhere else but here—they were all out in shorts that revealed legs and shirts that revealed others; all the lovely shades under the rainbow. A modern-day mating ritual being played out.

  “What’d she do this time?”

  “It shows?”

  “Does a skunk stank?” Akhet just shook his head then diverted his attention to maneuvering through the traffic. As he tried to turn around for another pass through the crowd, a group of motorcycles came out of nowhere, almost hitting the ride. This sent Akhet into a three-minute curse-a-thon at the bikers who were already gone.

  He was forced to calm down when a few fans recognized him and approached his window to show him love. I smiled as I watched my boy eat up the accolades while still being the same old fool and friend I had grown up with. He balanced his pride with humility and realness that came from a crash course in the hard lessons of life.

  “Thanks,” I said as he paused his stereo to search for a CD track he liked.

  “For what?”

  “For being my dawg.”

  “Fo’ sho, fo’ sho. You my boy, Lance. Ain’t nothin’.”

  “And I’m sorry for blowing you off that night you called and woke me up.”

  Akhet took another drag on his cigar and exhaled. “Shit. That’s all water under the bridge. I would’ve hung up on me,” he laughed. “I gotta get a handle on that issue, man. Maybe I do need to see a shrink. Sometimes you give good advice.”

  “Sometimes?”

  “Yeah. You heard me. Sometimes. Anyway, I don’t always want to hear it.”

  “So, where did you go that night?”

  “After I hung up on you?” he chuckled. “Jason North and the rest of the On-Phire Records family were hangin’ up in the Foundation Room at House o’ Blues. I went down there and talked things over with them.”

  “Oh no,” I said, wondering why I wasn’t called again in the middle of the night to bail him out of jail.

  “Nah. Things were straight. Didn’t knock any heads, bruh. We came to an understanding. I asked Jason about my money and he handed over fifty on the spot.”

  “Fifty thousand?” I asked, grasping what he had just said.

  “Huh, bruh? Jason’s also supposed to be buying a house for me in Houston in my name. I’m supposed to be meeting them out here today. Gonna be taping for Phat Phat ’n All That in a few days.”

  “That sounds all well and good, but you should still let someone check out your contract.”

  “Got someone in mind?”

  “No, but I’m sure I can come up with something.”

  “Alright, we’ll talk about that later. I’m out to have s
ome fun today, ya dig?”

  We hadn’t driven very far when some familiar faces were spotted. Akhet noticed Jason North and his entourage next to their parked stretch Hummer just ahead on the left. On the right, along the water, were a group of women. Both of us saw Roxie and Alexis in their midst. I wondered if the women recognized them and were intentionally hanging nearby.

  “There she is, bruh,” Akhet said as he waved back at Alexis. She was the first one in her gang to recognize us as we drove up. A Gucci hat covered part of her pretty face, but I could still see her smile as bright as day. “Lookin’ all sexy.”

  “Yeah. You would know about that too,” I said.

  “Huh? Whatcha mean by that?”

  “Y’know. Your little threesome with her and Roxie at your place . . . before I stopped by.”

  “Didn’t happen, bruh,” he laughed. “Just Roxie. Alexis was asking all about you that night. She was hopin’ you’d come by. She did watch me and Roxie a little though. Turned me the fuck on.”

  “You didn’t have to volunteer that last bit of info.”

  “Don’t hate because you’re all sensitive. Why do you think she was so gracious when you showed up?”

  “Hmm. Doesn’t matter. I’m—”

  “Stuck on that chickenhead Valerie. Yeah, yeah. I’ve been hearing that sob story for too long. I’m just tryin’ to help ya keep your options open. Look, I’m gonna drive over by Jason and talk business for a few seconds. Think you can keep the ladies entertained for just that long?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good!”

  “AK?” I said as I opened the door and left the comfort of his air conditioning.

  “What?”

  “One more thing. If you call Val a chickenhead one more time, I’m going to . . .”

  “To what?” he asked, putting the remainder of his cigar out.

  “Not pick up the phone next time you have one of those dreams.”

  He eyed me curiously before smiling. “Alright, bruh. I quit.”

  I smiled back. We had made our truce.

  17

  “Hello, stranger.”