Gumbo

by Tiana Laveen

  “Ya know, Mom, they call this area, Muck City. Belle Glade is an area they say to really stay away from.” His brother glanced at the wrinkled map in his hands then back out the front window. “Just down the block or so, there’s an area that’s called ‘Little Haiti.’ Not on the map though… This place looks just as bad as Troy said, too! Is this Little Haiti? What tha hell, man?!” Dante, his older brother, folded the map in half and placed it in the glove compartment, shaking his head. “Troy also said—”

  “Enough with the Troy stories, all right?! You’ve talked about your friend the entire drive down here, like he’s some authority. How would Troy know what Haiti looks like anyway, huh? He’s originally from Michigan, for God’s sake.”

  Mom shut off the car and they all cracked open their doors and slipped out their seats. Standing on dead grass in the front yard, Mom grabbed her keys from her oversized gray sweater pocket and she and Dante headed towards the fractured concrete steps. They glanced at one another – not saying a word, but their shared concerns were loud and clear.

  Tony looked at one of the windows that had been covered in old newspaper. Grabbing his Walkman from his jacket, he placed his headphones on. ‘Brilliant Disguise’ by Bruce Springsteen played through the small black sponge ear covers. Music had a way of drowning out the noise in his head. The anxiety, the tension… Its rhythm eased the pressure of the tight noose around his neck when things were closing in. Moments later, with the jingle of the keys, Mom had the door open. Tony stepped in behind the pair and immediately covered his nose with the cradle of his arm.

  “Shit, man! Smells like a fuckin’ dead rat in here!” Tony’s eyes watered. He’d always had a strong sense of smell. He snatched his earphones off and held his breath for several seconds, but it was no damn use. Mom shrugged as if it were nothing more than a mothball or two causing the caustic odor.

  “It’s been boarded up for a while. Just stuffy is all…” she mumbled as she moved about the place, her shoes making a shuffling noise. He took note of the graffiti scribbled on one of the living room walls. One side had ‘561’ spray-painted in big red numbers, while another showcased a big hairy cock with an unusually small nutsack, and a smiley face drawn across it with a tongue sticking out. With each step he took, it sounded like he was snapping tiny branches beneath his brand new Nike Air sneakers. Pieces of crumpled newspaper were everywhere on the creaking floor, making it seem like he was in some giant hamster cage.

  “Let me, uh, find the light switch,” Mom said in the semi-darkness. Sunlight peered in from two of the windows, but even the weak rays acted like they didn’t care to be there either. “Your Uncle Dennis said he rents this place out all the time, but we got lucky.” Mom forced a smile as she set her purse down on a dusty kitchen counter.

  “Yeah? The luck just runnin’ tha hell over, huh? Must be Saint Patrick’s Day. I feel like a lucky charm all right, magically damn delicious. We’re Irish now, no longer Italian. I think that four leaf clover is really just fuckin’ mold.” Tony sucked his teeth when he spotted a huge black spider in a ceiling corner.

  “The last folks left last summer, and he had some renovations to do so he didn’t re-rent it… said we could do them ourselves and he’d not charge us much rent. Oh, here’s a switch!” She turned it on and the thing shed further light on their dismal situation. He and his brother scanned the place and locked eyes with one another.

  “This place sucks!” Dante hissed, his hazel eyes growing larger by the minute. His brother gasped and cursed as if the undeniable truth of their situation burst forth, a nightmare morphing into stark reality.

  “Look, all it needs is a little elbow grease, some fresh paint and a plumber. We’ll be looking good in no time!” Mom threw up her hands, her cheeks reddened.

  “I can’t believe this! Are ya fuckin’ serious? Ma! Look at this place!” Dante turned around, looking here, there, everywhere… his mouth hanging open in disbelief. “Dad dies and less than two months later, you take us from our house, friends, everything we love and we end up in the sewer like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Haven’t we suffered enough?! On top of it all, did ya notice that we’re the only ones here?”

  “The only what?” Mom crossed her arms over her chest and grimaced.

  “There’s no White people!” Dante threw up his hands as if it were obvious. “What happened to you wanting us to be in diverse schools, huh? Bein’ around all sorts of people? Instead, I’m going to be break dancin’ with drug dealin’ Leroy, make-me-a-deal Miguel, and jabber-jaw Jerome just to keep my fuckin’ lunch money to myself! Jesus H. Christ on a saltine cracker! Did ya throw a dart at the map and just say, ‘Fuck it?’”

  “Dante, I am so sick of your shit!” Mom stormed towards him, her finger in his face. “Ya think you’re the only one suffering, huh?! Ya think I wanted to leave Jersey and move here to the center of fuckin’ Bumblefucky?! I didn’t! We had no damn choice!”

  “We coulda stayed in Jersey and just moved to a smaller spot, one we could afford!” Tony screamed, hoping that the two against one strategy would finally work. Maybe they had a chance to be taken back home if he and his brother stuck together. Maybe this was all a bad dream after all and if he fought hard enough, he’d win and wake the hell up.

  “I already told ya that was impossible and who is this we?!” Mom narrowed her blue eyes on him as she swept her black shoulder length hair out of her face. “I’d like to see your damn paystubs, Mr. Know it All – Money Bags – Hot Shot Rollin’ in the Big Bucks Brodsky!” He gritted his teeth and turned away. “Got all the answers, huh? I haven’t worked in over ten years. Your father was the sole provider, damn it! He’d insisted on it, wanted me to just raise you kids and take care of the house and him. I told you that your father wasn’t handling the money right. He wasn’t telling any of us the truth half the time… doing seedy side deals with the company’s money. Had us in that nice house, making me think everything was all right and then, come to find out, the mortgage hadn’t been paid in months. We were behind on most of the bills and we owed out the ass! I couldn’t even grieve in peace. I was too damn angry! My credit is shot now, too! The little equity we had in the house is down the drain and I had to pay a lot of bills that should’ve never been outstanding in the first place. Worst of all, you two don’t know the half of it. Some shit I will take to my grave, I will never tell either of you.”

  “Oh, don’t act so innocent, Ma! You knew what he was doing… it was all right until the ceiling fell in.”

  “What the hell are you talking about, Dante?”

  “As long as he kept the furs comin’, the fancy furniture in every room, the cars and jewelry, it was all hunky-dory. Now we have another ceiling falling on our heads, only this one is real! I’ve got no money for college now, there’s no nest egg, there isn’t shit anymore!” Dante spat before storming out the front door and slamming it behind him.

  “I didn’t know about any of this, Dante! I trusted him!” Mom screamed, the veins in her neck sticking out and straining.

  “Mom, let’s just go back to Jersey, all right?! We’ve seen this place. It was a mistake to come here. Let’s just forget about it so we can go home, pretend it never happened. We can get a one-bedroom apartment, ya know? Just you, me, and Dante, and we’ll sleep on the floor and not complain, I promise. We can—”

  “WE HAVE NO MONEY!” Tears brimmed in her eyes, and her voice shook like a baby rattle. They stood there with their eyes locked on one another as her chest heaved. “There’s less than fifty dollars in the checking account and I’ve got only sixty bucks in cash until next week!” Tony looked away, heat rushing to his cheeks. “Look… I know… I know ya miss him, Antonio.” Mom walked closer to him and placed her small hand on his shoulder, her long nails painted bright red rumpling up the fabric of his Yankees jacket. “I know ya wish things were like they used to be, but they’re not and we can’t change that. All we can do is move forward, okay, Tony?”

  He cleared his throat
, then nodded. “Yeah…”

  “It’s just temporary, honey. Just let me get on my feet. Once I save up a bit, then we can talk about going back. I’ve already got a job lined up at that textile company. I start next week answering the phones.” He looked back into her eyes and was greeted once again with that phony, forced smile. “It was too expensive to stay in Jersey. My mother’s nerves are too bad to have us live with her for any length of time.” She shrugged. “No one else could take us in. We had to go.”

  Feeling jumpy and sad, he blinked away tears and sniffed. The stench of something rotten and old crawled up his nostril like a gnat, and he couldn’t shake it loose. The truth of the matter was that Mom was running away from the memories. She was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He was certain if she’d asked her half-brother, their Uncle Raphael, for help, he would’ve obliged, despite them being on bad terms. Mom had friends, though a few had turned their back on her, thinking she was somehow in cahoots with the company going under after Dad died – their husbands worked there, too.

  She just couldn’t take it anymore. She just wanted to run away, someplace where nobody knew her or us. To act like nothin’ ever happened.

  He couldn’t completely fault her for bailing, for chasing a chance to start all over again.

  “When will our stuff be here?” he said after a while.

  “The movin’ truck will be here tomorrow. Luckily, your Uncle Dennis sprung for the bill. Guess he feels a little guilty about how his brother left us in dire straits.” She bent down and picked up something shiny. After inspecting it, she slipped it into her pocket. “We’ve got some stuff in the trunk, a little food, clothes, toiletries, cleanin’ supplies. Anything we don’t have that we need right away, we can go to the grocery store and get, long as it doesn’t cost too much. Look, think of this like an adventure! It’ll be fun!” She grinned as a tear ran down her cheek.

  “Ma, I’m almost sixteen. I’m too old for that kinda trick nonsense.” He shrugged as he fought angry tears. “May as well tell me that the Tooth Fairy is gonna come, wave her magic wand, and make it all better… and give me a free crown and root canal, too.”

  Mom chuckled at his words then kissed his cheek.

  “You’re growin’ up too fast, handsome.” She ran her fingers through his hair. “What am I going to do when you and Dante are off on your own, huh?”

  Just then, Dante burst back through the front door, his lips crimped, his face reddened with rage.

  “What?” Tony asked as he sized the seventeen-year-old up.

  “Someone just walked past and told me to take my White ass home. I told the fucker, ‘I am home.’”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Love is a House, and You’ve Got the Key

  “So if we look at the book, ‘Lord of the Flies’, we can definitely do a fair comparison of the two. Take, for instance—” Just then, the final bell rang at Glades Central High School. “Class, listen! Read Chapter Five tonight. Quiz on Friday!” Mrs. Armstrong announced as everyone jumped up from their seats, eager to go home for the day.

  Cassidy gathered her books, glanced at her best friend’s empty desk, and huffed.

  Guess I’ll call her tonight, drop off her homework…

  As she made her way through the maze of scribbled-and-doodled-on school desks, she took notice of the new boy out the corner of her eye. He was her new neighbor who lived right across the street. He stuck out amongst the crowd for more than one reason. He was tall and White, kinda cute, actually very cute, and talked funny, sounding like that guy in the Scarface movie she’d seen. Well, that was when he spoke at all. He’d barely said a word since he’d been attending school there, and it was going on four weeks. When the teachers asked him a question though, he knew the answers more times than not. She found that impressive.

  At least he isn’t stupid.

  He’d been forced to introduce himself in Mr. Blanc’s class. He’d said he was from New Jersey, used to play basketball there. Rumor had it, his father had just died. As she stared at him, he seemed to feel her gaze and suddenly turned in her direction.

  He had big light gray eyes and long, thick black lashes. Dare she say it, but they were gorgeous.

  Breaking the stare, he stood to his feet and grabbed a few things from his desk, after which he snuck another brief glance at her. He grabbed his bookbag and shoved the items inside, then slung it over his shoulder. Her peers all paraded out of the classroom like cackling cattle and emptied into the hall, big grins on their faces and speaking loud, rejoicing that the school day had come to an end. Over the next few minutes she was swimming in back-to-back daydreams, itching to go through those front doors and get home.

  Though she enjoyed several of her courses, Cassidy got tired of school at times, feeling as though she spent more time watching people fight and get in trouble than anything else. She couldn’t recall the last time she had a class that didn’t have some sort of interruption. Not only that, there was a new drug problem that had taken over the area like a virus. Deals were being made, boys she used to play freeze tag with and run from their kisses on the playground as a little kid were now slanging dope and shoving pistols in their pants.

  Many had dropped out of school. Things had changed so quickly, in the blink of an eye. Many of her friends had gotten caught up taking this shit called crack. The issue had been all over the news. She’d lost so many friends… Some were still alive and not on any of that shit, but they couldn’t hang out with her anymore for they were mothers now. Grandmama wanted to keep her away from all of that, told her it was the Devil at work and she need not clock in because working for him, you’d never get to clock out unless it was at your own damn funeral.

  I can’t wait to graduate and get the hell out of this place. That won’t be until two years from now; I might not even be alive then. I ain’t got no interest in that crack… makes people look sick any ol’ way. I ain’t got no money for that sort of habit, either. These dumbass guys just wanna do dumb shit and screw. I just want to make it, and I can’t make it here. I want to move to Texas, maybe even California… I could start my own business, own a magazine company, maybe be a teacher, or model. I don’t know what I’mma do, but I gotta get outta here…

  As soon as she stepped out into the sun, her stomach rumbled, anticipating what Grandmama had whipped up for dinner. Perhaps she’d make it home in time to help cook it. She loved that; she and Grandmama had some amazing talks while cooking together.

  “Ohhhhh, shit!” someone yelled, followed by loud laughter.

  The brawl had officially begun…

  Cassidy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked over at where the ruckus had broken out.

  “Watch where tha fuck you goin’, White boy!” Street yelled as he eyed the new guy up and down like he wasn’t even good enough to be shit on the bottom of his shoe.

  Street was a heavy built guy who sported a low fade and wide face. He was loud and bossy, but he could fight his ass off, and had a way with a lot of the girls. Cassidy could never figure out what was so damn appealing about him. He wasn’t particularly cute, but he could dance, and he was smooth with his words. He’d tried to flirt with her a couple of times, but she wasn’t interested. He was one of those boys that Grandmama told her wasn’t up to no damn good.

  His crew laughed and slapped hands when the White boy turned away, seemingly avoiding the invitation to a fight.

  Street always tryna show off and test somebody. He was mindin’ his own business. Leave him alone, damn…

  “I didn’t run into you. You ran into me, man.”

  “What you say, mothafucka?” Street bucked up, his steely, almost pitch-black eyes narrowed. He cocked his head to the side and his jaw muscles clenched.

  “I said you must be fuckin’ blind, deaf, or dumb. You need to watch where the fuck you’re going. Clear now?”

  The White boy frowned and his eyes darkened. Cassidy’s mouth dropped… There was no way this would end
well.

  “OOOOOOOOHHHHH!” A crowd gathered in front of the school like a swarm of gnats and angry bees. Smiles were full blown; gold teeth shined like lanterns. People were cheering, cursing, and carrying on, amping each other up like electric currents. Fists pumped in the air to egg on a fight.

  “Oh, you want some of this?!” Street chest-bumped the White boy and hissed, his fists balled up tight at his sides. “Do somethin’ then, peckerwood! Tryna act like you tha shit!” Spit sprayed out of Street’s mouth as he gritted his snow-white teeth, fire in his eyes.

  Oddly enough, the White boy didn’t look particularly frightened. He just looked fed the hell up. Before the guy had a chance to respond, Street punched him square in the gut. Ohhhs and Ahhhs came from the crowd as the boy doubled over, holding himself, his face turning beet red. He pressed his eyes shut in pain, his mouth stretched in an ungodly way as he grunted and moaned like a woman giving birth. Street jumped back, grinning from ear to ear, then raced back towards his prey, stomped the guy’s feet, then kneed him in the stomach.

  “Shit!” Someone yelled behind a bluster of laughter. “His guts all fucked up now for sure!”

  “Mothafucka! I’m Street, nigga!” The guy fell down to the ground. People laughed and pointed, jumping about like it was some sort of movie playing out, not real life. Nothing seemed real anymore… just a hazy blur of daily violence. “Thought you knew! Bringin’ that tough White boy shit down here… We don’t give a fuck ’bout none of that down here, nigga! You ain’t Robert De Niro, mothafucka! Thankin’ you Tony Montana or some shit. You just another Twinkie ass White boy!”