by Eric Pete
“So . . . talk.”
“I came in town to pick up a few things. Heard from some people that you two are planning a wedding or something.”
“No. No planning. It’s done. Tomorrow.”
“Well, that’s why I caught a cab over here. I’m flying out tomorrow and just wanted to say congratulations . . . to both of you.”
Robert stuck his hand out. I smacked my lips as I thought it was a joke.
“I’m serious, Lance. I’ve done nothing but disrespect you since I met you. And I owe you an apology. Straight up.”
“Straight?”
Taking his sunglasses off, he chuckled. “Straight. It’s never too late for some of us to grow up.”
I shook his hand and thanked him for the positive wishes. Val was less receptive, but shook his hand also.
“Do you want to see Bobby?” I asked. Bobby had moved on to the swing and didn’t see his dad. “He’s right over there.” Robert stared at him and just smiled.
“Tell you what,” he said as he put his sunglasses back on. “This is your time right now and my cab is waiting. Tell him I love him and that I’ll see him on my next trip, okay?”
“Will do.”
“Bye, Valerie.”
“Goodbye, Robert.”
We watched him get back in his cab and waited for it to leave.
“That was different,” I remarked.
“Hmph. He’s probably found a woman up there in North Carolina.”
“Does it matter?”
Taking me in her arms, Valerie gave me a peck on the lips. “No. It doesn’t.”
“Let’s go eat.”
Cousin Troy piled everyone’s plate up with what he called his “choice meats.” Val’s mother and auntie had taken to manning the rest of the serving line. Baked beans, potato salad, green beans seasoned with ham, and corn bread were served up before you could say how much.
With our weighted plates, the three of us got to eat as a family on one of the covered benches. Bobby sat on my knee as I pulled his meat off the bone with my fork. Val had found some bottled waters from one of the ice chests close by and was opening them for us. Momma D reminded us to say grace before we dug in. As I bowed my head and gave thanks for the meal and loved ones to enjoy it with, I heard the familiar bass of a car stereo system as it approached.
“Akhet’s here,” I said with a smile. A party wouldn’t be complete without my boy. With his green and gold Vokal top and sporting what appeared to be a new record label medallion around his neck, he exited the Escalade. Its rims were still spinning. Kyne got out right after, but didn’t seem too happy. I waved my hand to catch their attention, but they continued talking for a long time. It looked almost like they were arguing, but then the two of them kissed. Kyne waved her hands frantically in the air; it seemed she was pleading with him over something. Too bad I couldn’t read lips.
“What’s up with that?” Val asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.
“I dunno,” I said, sucking barbecue sauce off my fingertips. “I’ll go see.”
48
“Lance!”
“Hey, lady,” I said, giving Kyne a hug and kiss. My walking up on them seemed to grant her some relief.
“Don’t let him do this. Please,” she begged.
“Huh?”
“Kyne, let me handle this. I have to do this.”
“Man, what’s going on?”
Akhet took a deep breath. “Kyne, I need to talk to my boy here for a sec.”
“Don’t do this. I’m begging you,” Kyne said angrily. “We can leave . . . now.”
“It’s too late, baby doll. Way too late.”
“This is bullshit, Akhet. Lance,” she said, pleading to me before she stormed off, “don’t let him do this.”
I leaned against the bumper of the Escalade. “Something you need to get off your chest, bruh?”
“Did you hear it last night on the radio?”
“Yeah. I caught it. I think I wasn’t the only one who picked up on what you were saying.”
“Good. It’s gotta stop. All of it.”
“Are you sure?”
“For the first time last night . . . I really slept.”
“So, you told Kyne, huh?”
“Yeah. She’s not too happy with what I’m about to do.”
“You know what this means, right?”
“Fo’ sho, fo’ sho,” he said in a solemn manner. “Cops will be picking me up later. I worked out an agreement with them.”
“What about Kyne? She’s going to be left out in the wind. You know Melvin’s still out to hurt you. She’s just another target.”
“It’s taken care of. I gave Kyne a little something to make sure she can get by.” Akhet chuckled. “It’s funny. Y’know, she promised to wait for me. Me? Can you believe that shit?”
“All the money in the world won’t stop Melvin. You know that, right?”
His mouth twisted as if trying to stomach an unsavory taste. “There’s more to my agreement. I’m turning evidence on On-Phire and Melvin. I’m gonna make sure he ain’t around to do anythang to Kyne or anybody else, ya dig?”
Knowing that Akhet shared my distrust of the law, I had to speak up. “You sure about this? Bruh?”
I watched the tears well up in my best friend’s eyes, and it hurt like hell knowing that a chapter in our lives was coming to an end just when another in mine was beginning.
“You my boy,” I said as we embraced. “You know that, right?”
“Bruh, this is one of the hardest things I’ve done.”
“S’alright. I got your back for life.”
“I know, bruh. I know. It’s been wild.”
Akhet tried to be hard and wiped his eyes as we broke our death grip. “Here,” he said as he reached in his pocket. “A little wedding present.”
I looked at the amount on the cashier’s check and blinked. “I can’t accept this.”
“I ain’t got use for it. I’ll be outta my contract by the time I’m out, so I’ll be ready for the big cash then. Buy your woman ’n boy a nice crib. You know that apartment’s too small. The roaches gotta take a number just to run around.”
“You are crazy.”
“Nah. ‘I’m bulletproof, my man. I thought you would understand.’ ”
“Bad rap and they still buy your albums.”
“Fuck you. Momma D here?”
“Yeah. She’s over there finishing her plate. I’ll walk you over.”
Val was trying to calm a weeping Kyne. With each step Akhet took toward Mrs. Dumas, Kyne became more shaken. She was beginning to draw attention, so I had Akhet try to soothe her while I continued on.
Akhet and Mrs. Dumas needed some time alone to talk, so I walked her over. I was going to swap out with Akhet to try my hand with Kyne.
“Baby, what’s going on?”
“Umm . . . Akhet needs to talk with you, ma’am.” I looked down at the ground because of the guilt I held in my heart.
“You know what this about?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said as I found some courage. “I do.”
Akhet pried his hands away from Kyne and started to walk across the grass to the side of the rec center where we waited.
I left Akhet to have his overdue talk with the woman who had become a surrogate mother to him. Val was in need of an explanation as my eyes met hers. She was trying to find the words to comfort Kyne, but had no idea what kind of pandemonium was swirling around her.
A glimpse of a white police car caught my eye and brought me to a dead stop. It was the NOPD. The lights weren’t flashing or anything, but the car was running with somebody inside.
“AK,” I called back, getting his attention. He had just begun his conversation. He ended it abruptly and began walking in the direction of the awaiting car.
“Dammit, they’re early! They weren’t supposed to come out ’til later. I knew I couldn’t trust ’em,” he sighed. “Tell Momma D I’ll be right back.”
Akhet impatiently stormed toward the police cruiser as if he were a man in complete control of things. It was surreal given what the truth was. I could see Akhet motioning to his watch as he tried to get his point across to the person behind the wheel. Then it happened.
The car door swung open. A tennis shoe stepped out onto the pavement. The chiseled body that stepped out wasn’t in an officer’s uniform, but was wearing sweats. He looked beyond Akhet, scanning the crowd until he saw a familiar face . . . mine. With his jaw wired shut, he grinned. And my world erupted.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
49
The blue steel service revolver spun up into Vaughn’s hand as if he were straight out of the Wild West. I felt my throat tighten and time seemed to slow to a crawl. Akhet, confused by what was going on, began to sprint away once he recognized Vaughn was not there to arrest him. My attention went straight to the safety of the partygoers, who still hadn’t realized their lives were in danger.
“Run!” I managed to blurt out at the top of my lungs before the first shot rang out. A whizzing sound rang right by my ear, causing me to hit the grass. Air rushing out of my lungs, I cursed myself for not finishing off Vaughn that night at his apartment. Akhet was scrambling into the park in a wild, evasive pattern with Vaughn right on his heels, like a hungry cheetah closing in on its prey.
Quickly rolling over to get my bearings and to see where Vaughn was, I saw him take aim and fire twice into the crowd of people still seated and eating their meals. Screams rang out and several people went down. I couldn’t tell who had been hit and who had simply fallen. There was a mad stampede as family members began diving over and under tables. Mr. Lewis had snatched up Bobby and had him under his arm.
Kyne and Val were still standing next to one another, paralyzed with fear and indecision. “Get outta here! Now!” I yelled at them, jumping back to my feet. They began screaming hysterically when I turned toward them. I was confused until I felt a warm, burning sensation and saw my own blood dripping onto my shirt from a wound on my ear. Vaughn had just missed taking my head off with the bullet.
Behind me there were more shots. Like a madman, Vaughn was screaming through his closed mouth, shooting in all directions. In all the pandemonium, he had lost sight of me. He was looking though. At his feet, there were two bodies, piled one on top of the other. The person on the bottom appeared to be moving ever so slightly; the larger body on top . . . still . . . deathly still. With an efficiency borne of practice, he rapidly reloaded.
As I looked back at Val, I mouthed silent words meant only for her. Before I did this foolish thing, I wanted her to know that I would always love her. I turned and ran toward Vaughn with reckless abandon, hoping to catch him off guard. I was still several feet away when he spotted me and turned the large gun in my direction. I looked into the blackness of the barrel and heard it calling for me. The closer I got, the larger it seemed to grow—like a tunnel threatening to engulf me in its abyss. Vaughn’s mouth twisted into a grotesque smile. He had won and I said a quick prayer as the CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! sounded.
Opening my eyes, I realized I was still alive when I saw the sky. I tried to roll to my feet again, but fell back as Vaughn’s shoe stomped into my chest and pressed. The cool grass felt good on my throbbing ear just before he blotted out my view of the clouds. He spit on me before leveling his vengeance at my face.
“No, not my baby! Please!”
Val was going ballistic and trying to get to me. A mass of tangled arms with her, Kyne was frantically struggling to hang on and pull her to safety. Vaughn, distracted by them, leveled the gun back up . . . and took aim again. Finger on the trigger, he glanced down and smiled to let me know. I stretched up to grab his arm, but he had already gotten the shots off. The two of them fell in a heap like marionettes whose strings were suddenly cut.
“NO!”
With his foot still on me, he clocked me in the head with a glancing blow from the revolver, then leveled it again.
“You shoulda killed me when you had the chance,” he mumbled through the wires that bound his broken jaw. I was facing this with my eyes open, my final act of defiance. I watched his finger squeeze the trigger and waited for death to come.
Click.
He had run out of bullets.
Click. Click. He tried again in vain.
Sirens could be heard in the distance. Vaughn, spooked back to his senses, stepped over me and ran. Before speeding away in his car, he took down part of the fence in his haste, sparks flying as the tangled mess stuck to his bumper.
Moans and sobs became louder as I got back on my feet. I ran toward the two women, asking for God’s intervention every step of the way.
“Come on! Please God, don’t do this,” I cried out. I dropped down and crawled over them, trying frantically to find some signs of life. Kyne groaned and rolled away from Val. Blood stained her multicolored wrap and the grass underneath . . . but she was okay. It wasn’t her blood.
Val’s eyes blinked to life and she began coughing.
“Lance?”
“Baby, I’m right here.” I pulled her close to me and held her face against mine. The red stain on her clothes was getting larger. “It’s going to be okay. I promise. I won’t lose you. I can’t.”
Tears blurred my vision as I looked around.
“Lance?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Is Bobby okay?”
“Yeah, baby. I see him. Your dad has him.”
“It hurts. It hurts,” she whispered through the pain. “Don’t leave me.”
“I won’t. I’m not going anywhere.” I would hold her until the ambulance arrived.
Blank eyes, finally at peace, stared at me from across the park. I held Val tighter and began rocking back and forth.
Akhet wasn’t moving. I would never be able to joke with him anymore or hear his raps. No one would hear him again. He had been shot while shielding Mrs. Dumas. He’d accidentally taken her son’s life years ago. Now he had given his up to save hers. I should have been more upset, but his eyes told me he had found the peace that his troubled conscience had denied him for so long.
50
Now
I held her hand. I held her hand in the back of the ambulance, EMTs scrambling to take vital signs. I held her hand all the way into the ER, until they forced me out. They were having trouble stabilizing her and I had been pushed aside. They always said Charity was the best hospital in the city for trauma, especially for bullet wounds, and I prayed their reputation wasn’t hype this day. In my head, I heard Val’s faint voice haunting me. “You can’t save everyone,” it was saying over and over. Its truth twisted like a knife in the pit of my soul. I had lost my best friend, Akhet, who was pronounced dead at the scene. People worked their way around me as I stood, oblivious to them, in the middle of the hallway. I put hands to my face as I searched for the strength to go on.
“Lance, where’s my daughter?” Mrs. Lewis asked as she walked toward me at a brisk pace. Mr. Lewis was trailing with Bobby protectively wrapped in his arms. They didn’t know what news I had, so they wanted to shelter him from what might be troubling to someone so young. I put on a reassuring smile for his benefit.
“She’s in there. They kicked me out. They’re having trouble with the bleeding.”
Mrs. Lewis lent me her strength, allowing me to lean on her as she rubbed my back.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I said, breaking down.
“Shhhh. Pray with me,” she said as she grasped my hands in hers.
Val was moved to surgery and we continued to wait for updates. More relatives from the park had arrived and the series of questions grew by the hour. Who was that guy? Why was he shooting? Did they catch him? I ignored all of them. The police were going to have enough questions to cover all of that.
By the third hour, I remembered someone else that needed my attention. Excusing myself briefly, I followed the signs that led me back to the ER. Outside the door, there was a folder
in the plastic holder. Ernestine Dumas was listed on the green sticker. I knocked lightly. The door wasn’t closed completely so I stepped in.
Mrs. Dumas lay peacefully in the bed. Her blood pressure had spiked sharply and they were observing her. Akhet had saved her life, but someone as heavy as Akhet landing on her had done some damage also.
“Can you have company?”
“Lance, they took him. They took him.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Lord, no.” She broke down into tears. Loud, sorrowful moans were let out as I reached for the box of tissues to give to her. As much pain as she had endured over these years, it seemed that a dam had finally broken and the emotion was flooding her. The stress she was under had me worried. I did not want to be responsible for anything else happening, but I needed to talk to her . . . for AK. And for Kevin.
“Ma’am, did Akhet get a chance to talk to you before he . . .”
“Before he was killed?”
“. . . Yes.”
She looked away. “No,” she said. “But I knew.”
“Knew what?” I asked, taken aback.
“Baby, I’ve been blessed with many years on this earth. How could I have not known? I lost my son—my son.”
“I . . .”
She continued. “Kevin was taken away from me too young. Parents shouldn’t outlive their kids, you know? The Lord works in mysterious ways though. Yes, indeed. He gave Akhet to me.”
I opened my mouth to try to say something, but nothing came out. I didn’t know what I could say anyway.
“I could see the guilt all over his face after Kevin was shot. I hated him for what he had done.” She became choked up, then put her glass of water to her lips. “But hate is a powerful emotion . . . the Devil’s tool. It’ll eat you up and nothing good comes from it. I prayed for the strength to forgive . . . and you know what? Eventually, I was able to.”
“Ma’am. It was an accident. Akhet was—”
“Doing something he had no business doin’,” she interjected. True enough. Akhet was slangin’ and he thought Kevin was a rival dealer running up on him when he shot into the shadows that night so many years ago. I’ll never forget the look in his eyes when he found me and told me.