Even Sinners Have Souls TOO

by Joy, E. n.

For those strangers who didn't know any better, Arnita was blessed with a perfect man. Omitting the common knowledge to those near him that he was involved in an ongoing affair with Salena Jackson, a single mother of one, who'd recently moved into the area and was known as the neighborhood good time girl who slept with just about anything that hopped, skipped or jumped as long as they paid her.

  Removing that one negative and outrageous factor from the equation, the head of household rarely missed a meal with his own family. He was a good paymaster; never late on one bill that crossed the modest threshold of their brick framed bungalow. Not causing his wife to worry about the high mortgage, food in the cabinets or clothes on the kid's backs, Roland Sr. thought his blatant indiscretions, along with the sideway glances of pity his wife endured from neighbors, were somehow allowable.

  "Did you call him?" Arnita asked her son a few minutes later. "Yes, Ma, I called." Little Ro secretly rolled his eyes at her stupidity of dealing with his daddy and all his madness.

  "And is he on his way?" Arnita wondered as she set the table. "I don't want his dinner to get cold."

  "Do you want me to go and get him from around the corner? I can." Receiving a cold, hard stare from his mother, Little Ro instantly regretted asking her that million dollar question, but couldn't help himself as he headed toward the door. "I know what house she stays in."

  "What did you just say to me?" Arnita slowly approached her son with a look of venom in her eyes as Patrice watched, scared that her brother was seconds away from getting popped.

  "Nothing, Ma." He wisely backed down, treading on dangerous ground, wanting to avoid trouble. "I didn't say nothing."

  "I thought not." She angrily wiped her hands down her apron. In just those few seconds, her blood had boiled just enough to form a sweat. "You ain't so big that you can't get a whooping. Now go sit your wanna-be-grown-behind on that front porch and let me know the minute your father pulls up. You understand me?"

  "Yes, Ma. I understand." He twisted his lip up as he thought about how his father was disrespecting his mom.

  Arnita, five foot three with paper bag brown skin tone and shoulder length hair, took pride in being a devout, born again Christian. The thirty-eight year old mother stayed immersed in the Word, hiding from the reality that faced her daily as the busy bodied women in her church congregation made it their personal vendetta to give Arnita their opinion on her husband's extra marital dealings. Although most claimed they were just trying to minister to her, or share what God was revealing to them, Arnita knew they were just trying to meddle.

  "For better or worse, richer or poorer," was Arnita's constant response to the women, trying to hold her head up and keep her dignity.

  Unfortunately, Arnita Mills wasn't the only one who suffered the shame from her spouse's infidelity. Little Ro would catch it going to the corner store, at the playground and even in the lunchroom line. Ridiculed by his classmates for having a play step brother who was in the slow class, he tried his best to ignore the taunts, but stayed in detention as a result of physical retaliation, disappointing his parents.

  Little Ro did as he was told by his mother. He sat silently on the wooden steps of their house looking back and forth up the block for more than twenty minutes. He grew impatient awaiting any sign of his father, but just when he thought he'd die from hunger, Roland Sr.'s two toned pick up truck turned the corner, roaring into the driveway.

  "Hey, Pops. You're late," Little Ro pointed out to his father as he hopped out of the truck and made his way to the porch.

  "Yeah I know, so come on and let's eat," Roland Sr. stated nonchalantly as he rested his hand on his son's shoulder and they entered the house.

  They both walked into the dining room at the same time. "I could eat a horse." Roland Sr. smiled as the smell of the delicious foods assaulted his nose.

  "I thought I told you to tell me when he pulled up?" Arnita tugged her son's earlobe.

  "Sorry, Ma. I forgot." Little Ro sadly found his spot at the table.

  "What's the big deal, Arnita?" Roland Sr. stated after witnessing his son's demeanor slope.

  "He's always forgetting something lately." Arnita judgmentally raised her eyebrow. It was obvious that Arnita was more disappointed in her husband's tardiness versus her son's forgetfulness. Her eyes dared her husband to call her on it as she turned to retrieve the pan of biscuits from the oven.

  "Listen here, Arnita. I'm not in the mood to hear all that nerve wrecking complaining you doing," Roland Sr. scolded his wife as if she was a child. "That's why I stay away most of the time. That mouth of yours."

  "Roland." She turned with a platter of hot biscuits in her hands. "Don't say that."

  "I know you not telling me what to say in my own house are you?"

  "No, but I-"

  "But nothing!" he insisted as he sat down at the head of the table. "Just bring me my plate so I can eat and go take a hot shower."

  Arnita, always the one to submit to her husband as her Bible instructed her to, prepared her family's plates and sat down, joining her husband, son and daughter at the dinner table. As the family lowered their heads, Roland Sr., who was the biggest hypocrite in the room, led them in a prayer before the family dug in, devouring almost every dish Arnita had lovingly prepared.

  Inhaling the aroma of a homemade hot apple pie warming in the oven, the troubled husband and wife went through the normal ritual of idle chit chat.

  "So, how was your day?" Arnita asked Roland Sr.

  "Same as it always is," he huffed while pouring honey on the last piece of bread. "Long and drawn out. I swear if I didn't have you and these kids, I'd quit and let some other fool have that headache job."

  "Just be blessed you have steady work as bad as the economy is."

  "What you know about the economy? You ain't got no worries!" He barely looked over to acknowledge her.

  "That's not true. It's getting harder by the day to stretch the food budget on these kids," she stated, watching her son and daughter drink their glasses of Kool-Aid. "And they say times are about to get much harder."

  Roland Sr., with sticky fingers and crumbs around his mouth, glanced up. "Are you saying I don't give you enough to provide for my children? Are you saying I don't work hard enough?" Roland Sr. was now on the defensive side.

  "No, I was just saying the prices at the grocery store are going up." She backed down, fearing her man's harsh verbal tongue lashing would increase. "That's all."

  Little Ro and Patrice were used to the mental abuse their mother was forced to undergo and knew to just be quiet and stay out of grown folks' business as they were reminded constantly.

  "Why do you always find something to get on my back about?" Roland Sr. asked his wife with a slight pound on the table. "I'm out there every day busting my butt and all you do is constantly complain."

  "Humph! I guess that sleazy Salena is perfect, huh?" Arnita stated in an almost inaudible tone, as if she was second guessing even making the comment in the first place.

  You could've heard a pin drop around the table as Roland Sr. dropped his fork onto the plate, giving Arnita a wicked grin. "What did you just say?"

  Arnita took a deep breath before speaking. "You heard me, Roland!" she raised her usually timid voice, getting up out of her chair. She didn't know where this sudden burst of courage, or holy boldness as the women in the church would have called it, came from, but she was going to use it up while it lasted. "I do my best to make you and this family happy, and all I get in return is grief! I'm tired of being second best!"

  Roland Sr. sat dumbfounded at a loss for words. His wife had never called him on his behavior before. And now, after seeing the hurt in her eyes and hearing the pain in her voice, he almost felt bad. He finally conjured up some words to speak, but before he could respond or reassure his wife of his half time devotion to her, his cell phone rang, interrupting the argument.

  Taking the cell off his thick leather belt, Roland Sr. looked at the screen and saw Salena's number flash
repeatedly. Confused on the reason she was calling him at this time, knowing good and well he was having dinner with Arnita and the kids, Roland Sr. disrespectfully pushed the talk button as his family listened in on the one sided conversation.

  "Yeah. . .What? He did what? Why is he even over there? Is he touching you? I'm on my way!" Roland Sr. leaped to his feet, grabbing his keys and almost knocking his small daughter out of her seat.

  "Have you lost your mind? Where do you think you're going right in the middle of dinner?" Arnita couldn't believe her eyes and ears as she and her two children followed her irate husband onto the front porch, watching him jump in his truck. "Roland!" Arnita called out. "You get back in here with your family right now! This is ridiculous! Enough is enough!"

  "Arnita, y'all go back inside the house and tend to your business!" Roland Sr. yelled out as the nosy neighbors watched. "This doesn't concern you or the kids." He quickly backed out the driveway and was on his way back down the street in the same direction he had come from less than a half hour ago.

  Having no choice but to do as they were instructed, Arnita ushered Little Ro and her young daughter off the porch and back into their home. Hours seemed to pass as the evening sunlight disappeared, making way for the glow of the moon. The kids had long since gone to bed as Arnita, who sat on the couch furiously awaiting Roland Sr.'s return, simmered.

  I'm done! If he wants to be with that hussy so bad, he can have her, Arnita told herself, knowing in her heart that she didn't want to lose her family that easily. She closed her weary eyes for a few seconds, but was suddenly startled by the loud sounds of the telephone. Oh, I guess he wants to call with some sort of an excuse. Arnita recognized her husband's number on the caller I.D. and answered dryly.

  "Yes, Roland," she responded angrily.

  "Hello, Arnita?" A puzzled look came across Arnita's face. Although she was certain it was her husband's phone number that appeared on the caller ID, the voice speaking on the other end of the line was clearly not that of Roland's.

  "Yes, this is Arnita." She paused, momentarily shocked at not hearing her husband's voice on the other end. "Who is this?"

  "This is Salena." The woman's voice sounded grim.

  "Salena? Salena Jackson? You have some nerve," Arnita started before she was cut off."

  "Arnita, it's an emergency," Salena started.

  "Oh, I bet. Well you can take your emergency to 911, sweetheart, but don't call my house-"

  Once again, Salena cut her off. "Arnita, listen please. Don't hang up."

  "How dare you. You've got some sort of nerve calling my house. Haven't you disrespected me and my children enough over the years?"

  "Please, Arnita, just listen to me!" This time Salena yelled with authority and Arnita could tell something serious was going on. "There's been an accident."

  "Why are you calling me on my husband's phone? Where is he? Put him on the line." As she became nervous by the seriousness of the female caller's voice, Arnita fired question after question out to her husband's long time mistress.

  "That's what I'm trying to tell you." Salena started crying uncontrollably. "Roland's been hurt and the paramedics are putting him in the ambulance as we speak. He's on his way to the hospital."

  "What?" Arnita's yells woke Little Ro from out of a deep sleep. "What kind of accident was my husband in? Where are they taking him? To what hospital?"

  "I don't know. I don't know! But it looks really bad!" Salena's tears increased. "It's so much blood!" She made the last statement as if she was looking at the blood as she spoke.

  The fact that Arnita hadn't appreciated Salena calling her one little bit now had to be put on the back burner as she dropped the phone to the floor and ran to get her purse. Little Ro, now out of the bed, stood in the doorway and wiped the sleep out of his eyes. At the same time, he watched his mother leave, rushing off to the hospital, somehow feeling like he'd never see his father alive again, and knowing that his young life would be forever changed.

  Chapter Three

  The funeral was long and grueling for the grieving relatives. Person after person got up to praise the deceased Roland Sr. for his past various deeds and work throughout the community. Finding no comfort in becoming a widow with two children to bring up in the wicked streets of Detroit, Arnita hid her face in her hands as the service concluded and they rolled her man's casket out the same church they exchanged vows at years earlier.

  Climbing into the family car, dressed in a dark blue suit, Little Ro couldn't help but take notice of Ms. Jackson and her son, Deon, a.k.a. his play step brother, standing in the multitude of tearful mourners. It was rumored that Deon, unfortunately had witnessed the entire murder of Roland, Sr. who, during a jealous rage, had been cold bloodedly shot four times, thanks to one of Salena Jackson's numerous boyfriends.

  When Arnita became aware of their presence, she wiped her red, puffy eyes, took a deep breath and confidently marched over to Salena while holding her Bible close to her breasts. As the stunned crowd looked on, the young widow gave the little boy a faint smile then directed her full attention to his mother, landing a well place smack across her face.

  Arnita, furious, trembled with every word she began to speak to the woman through her teeth. "Not even on this one day can you respect the union of our marriage. The Bible speaks of Jezebels like you in the book of Proverbs. I never thought I'd have to come face to face with one, and especially under these circumstances."

  Salena just stood there holding her stinging face as Arnita continued to spit her venom.

  "You don't belong here. I don't care how you felt about my husband. You need to know that he never loved you. Never," she screamed. "I was his wife, not you. Turn around and look!" Arnita pointed to Little Ro and a crying Patrice. "Do you see my kids over there?" she angrily waved her finger. "Thanks to you they don't have a father anymore. You're nothing but a home wrecking harlot and I hope all the wives standing around here condemn you and what you stand for." Arnita shot Salena one last, long glare before saying, "May God have mercy on your soul."

  With that being said, Arnita's family members ushered her to the long, dark colored sedan so they could start the lengthy procession to the cemetery, which was located across town. Each of the women in attendance, thinking that they could have easily been in the poor young widow's shoes, tightly held on to their husband's arms as they snarled, walking pass an embarrassed Salena who was still subconsciously holding the side of her face and her young son's hand.

  Jezebel, tramp, and whore were some of the choice hatred filled words that the wives used to describe her as she dropped her head in disgrace.

  After Roland Sr. was buried and all was said and done, and the reality of the living set in, Arnita came to find out exactly where she and her children stood. Roland Sr. had left her with several high credit card balances, one high water bill and of course the mortgage. His seventy-five hundred dollar insurance policy went mostly to burial expenses, forcing Arnita to get a job at a small factory.

  "Little Ro, help me fix the eggs while I get your sister dressed to go to Auntie Bell's. I'm running late," Arnita ordered her son, who was now the man of the house.

  "Not a problem, Ma."

  "Oh yeah, I left that seven dollars you needed for a new gas can on the table."

  "Okay, I'll get it as soon as I get finished with the eggs," Little Ro said as he began to prepare a pan of scrambled, cheese eggs. After putting plenty of eggs on two plates for his sister and mother, Little Ro scraped the last bit of scrambled eggs out the black cast iron skillet onto his plate. "I've got three yards to do today," he yelled out to his mom as he walked over to the kitchen table and sat down.

  "That's good, baby!" Arnita yelled back into the kitchen to her hard working son. For the past four years since her husband's untimely death, Little Ro had assumed the role of the man of the house by taking on odd jobs in order to be able to contribute to the household.

  The last four years had been harder than Arnita could
have imagined. At some points, she grew so weary that she would lose hope. She even stopped attending Sunday Church Services altogether. But after being encouraged by her Auntie Bell, she would attend here and there, but she was far from being dedicated like she had been prior to her husband's death. Each day in the single mother's life caused her to change for the worse.

  As the days drug by, Arnita, who'd easily gained thirty pounds over the course of the last four years and began sipping on more than just a small glass of wine with dinner, seemed to get spiteful and judgmental, blaming God for taking away her husband and not yet blessing her with a new one. As the years went by, her faith weakened. Her once good life was gone and besides Salena, God was the next in line to take the blame. Arnita needed a crutch to lean on so it was second nature for her to depend on the only man in her life, Roland Jr., whether he was ready for that responsibility or not.

  In between Little Ro cutting grass, staying on the honor roll at high school and taking care of his younger sister, he was faced with obstacle after obstacle. Things with his family's financial situation were looking more than dismal the afternoon he walked up to Lamont's house.

  Anytime he would cut Lamont's lawn or trim the hedges, he never needed to bring his own equipment. Lamont, a local drug dealer, had everything Little Ro required in a shed in the rear of the huge backyard. He wasn't like the average dope dealer in the movies, callous and demented with no use for anyone other than himself. Lamont used to sit on the back deck reading books to his small son as Little Ro cut the grass. Lamont also even coached football for the Children's League. Even though Little Ro didn't necessarily condone Lamont's lifestyle and the way he made his living, he still understood the hustle and the grind.

  This day was different from most as Little Ro neared the front porch like he did every two weeks. Outside of all the strange cars parked in the driveway, something else seemed out of the ordinary to Little Ro. Even though Lamont knew a lot of people in and around Detroit, he never had this much company at his house at one time. The few occasions that he did see any of Lamont's cronies, they were all pushing hotter whips than the ones that were now parked on the premises.