by Warren, Mike
“Okay, okay,” I replied going up the back kitchen stairwell.
I first checked Keith’s room, and just as I thought, it was empty. Then I went to Robin’s room, and her room was empty too. I then ran down the front stairs and checked Keith’s office, and again, it was empty as well.
I walked back towards the kitchen and overheard Uncle Bill telling Momma, “Once I’m finished, don’t ever contact me again, and my debt has been paid in full.”
“Don’t worry, you won’t,” Momma said with attitude, hands on her hips and her head twisting from side to side.
“We’re the only ones here,” I stated, interrupting their conversation.
“Good.” Momma looked at Uncle Bill. “Now, you can go do what you do best.”
Uncle Bill opened the black bag and pulled out two sets of headphones and began explaining to Momma and me how they worked. Uncle Bill then went to do his job, whatever that was, and Momma and I began testing the headphones. They weren’t actually headphones per se, but they were very small devices that you place in your ear and the mic was a small round object that you attached to your clothing.
Momma put hers inside her bra, and I placed mine inside my high collar shirt. I then went from room to room testing the mic and earphone, and I could hear Momma as clear as if she was standing right in front of me.
I kept asking her, “Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?” like they do on the commercials, but Momma didn’t think it was funny.
“Boy, cut that shit out and meet me in Keith’s office.”
I met Momma in Keith’s office, and I knew exactly why she wanted me to meet her there.
“The money and drugs should be in there, so go ahead, baby, and open up the safe for Momma,” she stated, smiling from ear to ear.
“Well, Momma, if we get the money and stuff now, what if Keith decides to come home early and wants to go in the safe looking for something and sees that everything is gone?”
“Baby, don’t worry about Keith. I will keep his drinking glass full. He will be so out of it, he won’t know if he’s coming or going, you hear me?”
I opened the safe, and just as Momma had predicted, based on Keith’s figures in his book, there was a little over a million dollars in his safe.
Momma kept throwing the money up in the air talking about, “Come to Momma,” and bursting out with laughter.
I sat there amazed at all the money in front of me. My mind was so overwhelmed, I couldn’t think straight.
“Wow, Momma! We can live anywhere we want with all this money,” I said, excitement in my voice.
“That’s right, baby. And New York, here we come.” Momma started placing the money in a black plastic trash bag.
After we loaded the money and the cocaine into the trash bag, Momma instructed me to go and place it in the trunk of my car and to make sure I put it under the trunk mat where the spare tire usually goes. Once I had done that, I met her back in the kitchen, where she had begun to take the dinner out of the refrigerator to warm up.
“Okay, Momma, it’s in the trunk. Now what do you want me to do?” I sat down at the kitchen table and watched her every move.
“Well, baby, once your Uncle Bill leaves, I want you to drive your car up the road and park it behind the Waffle House. You can then walk back down here. That way, your Uncle Bill doesn’t see it, and neither will Keith. And once our job here is done, all we have to do is walk up the road, get in the car and start our new life!” She was busy placing all the food on the table, looking as though she was trying to figure out what to warm up first.
“Momma, I’m nervous about this whole thing.”
“Don’t be. Don’t you wanna get back at the bastard that killed your brother?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And don’t you wanna get back at that bitch for taking your man?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And don’t you wanna get back at that muthafucka for treating you the way he does?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, then just do what I tell you to do and leave the rest up to Momma.” She winked at me.
“Okay, Janet, I’m done,” Uncle Bill stated. “Everything is set, so all you have to do is flip the living room switch.”
“Fine. Have a good life, and good-bye,” Momma said, her hands on her hips and twisting her neck.
“Dang, Momma! You twist your neck more than I do.” I burst out laughing.
“Boy, hush and see your uncle to the door.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I led Uncle Bill to the front door and watched him get in his car. He didn’t say anything to me, but it was weird how he kept shaking his head as though he felt sorry for something. I had hoped it was because of the way he had been treating me, knowing damn well I was his nephew. The muthafucka.
I watched him drive out of the gate and down the road. I then hopped in my car and tried to drive to the Waffle House, but halfway there, the trunk popped open.
Dayum! I must not have closed the trunk all the way.
I couldn’t stop so I continued to drive and I parked in the rear as Momma told me to. Once I got out of the car, I went to the trunk and noticed that the lock had been popped. I searched under the trunk mat, and the trash bag was nowhere to be found.
I began to get nauseous as though I was about to throw up. “No, that muthafucka didn’t!” I said out loud.
I got back in my car and went searching for Uncle Bill. There was no way I could go back home and tell Momma that the money and drugs were gone and that he had taken it. I was gonna demand that he give it all back to me, and if he tried anything, I would get Momma to kick his ass.
I went as fast as I could down the highway to his store because I knew he wouldn’t take it home to Momma Gerdy’s house.
Once I got to the store, I was informed that he hadn’t been there all day and that he wouldn’t be back until Monday.
I raced over to Momma Gerdy’s house just to see if she had heard from him, and unfortunately she hadn’t.
“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” Momma Gerdy asked. “You look so pale. Are you hungry?”
“Naw, Ma, I’m not hungry. I’m just not feeling well.” I sat down on the living room couch.
“What’s going on? Why are you looking for your dad?”
“I just need to find him, Ma. Do you know where he can be?” I asked; my face in my hands.
“Did you check down at the store, sweetie? He should be there.”
“Yes, Ma. I went there first.”
“Hey, Cameron,” Keisha said, coming down the stairs.
“Hey, baby sis,” I replied, trying not to hyperventilate.
“Dang, Cam! What’s wrong with you?” Keisha sat down on the couch next to me.
“I’m fine. I’ll be all right,” I spat raising my voice.
“Well excuse me,” she responded as she got up and went into the kitchen.
“Sweetie, you sure you’re okay?” Ma sat next to me and held my hand. “Is there anything you want me to do?”
“Naw, Ma, I’ll be okay. I just need to find Uncle…I mean, Dad.”
“Well, sweetie, it’s Saturday. He might be over at the lodge, or he could be down at the church. Did you try there?”
“Naw, I didn’t, and it would be just like him to go to the church of all places.” I got up and headed for the front door.
“Sweetie, what do you mean, of all places? What happened? What did he do?”
“Ma, I can’t explain now. I just need to find him. I’ll call you later and explain everything, okay.” I walked out the door and towards my car.
*
Three hours or so had gone by, and I still hadn’t found Uncle Bill. I stopped at the church and the lodge, but no one had seen him. It was a little after seven p.m., and I knew Keith, Robin, and Junior were all at the house. Momma was probably wondering where the hell I was. How could I go back there and tell Momma that Uncle Bill had taken the money and the drugs? The first
time I was going to man up and demand back what Uncle Bill had taken, and I couldn’t even find him. I had searched this whole city practically and couldn’t find him or his car anywhere.
Having nowhere else to search or go, I headed back home to give Momma the bad news. I thought, Maybe we could change our plans and just get on the road and go. Go anywhere and start all over. I still had my credit cards with a $5,000 limit on each one of them. I could just go to an ATM and withdraw as much as I could, and that would get us started. Momma and I could still go to New York or maybe Philly, get a cheap hotel. We both then could find jobs, and work until we could save up enough money so we could get our own place.
And considering what happened, I didn’t see why Momma wouldn’t go for that. Besides, we would still need to get out of town.
I parked the car back at the Waffle House and walked down the hill to Keith’s mansion. Once I approached the gate, I realized that if I put in the code, he might notice someone coming. I then thought about climbing the wall, but that only brought about the bad memories I had when I was in high school and all the boys laughed at me because I couldn’t climb the rope in gym class.
“Okay, Ms. thang, man up,” I said to myself.
I stood back and took a good look at the gate. It was about 12 feet high, but I thought if I could just jump up high enough to grip one of the railings, I could then walk up to the top, place my leg over to the other side of the gate, and jump down to the other side.
After twenty minutes or so of falling back down to the ground and scarring up my hands, on the fifteenth try, I did it. I made it over the wall to the other side.
I crept by the side of the house so as not to be noticed and then entered through the carport, which led into the kitchen. I suddenly heard voices yelling at one another as I entered the kitchen area.
“Bitch, you think you and your punk-ass son can just come in my house and take shit from me?” Keith yelled at Momma.
I lowered myself to the floor and crawled to the kitchen nook area, where I could look straight into the living room. I saw Momma standing in the middle of the room with tears in her eyes as Keith waved his gun at her, daring her not to move.
“Look, Cameron had nothing to do with this. It was my idea. So, please, just leave him out of this.” Momma was crying and shaking like a leaf on a breezy day.
I looked about the room and noticed that Junior and Robin were sprawled out on the couch, knocked out. I didn’t know whether they were dead or what.
“Bitch, if you don’t tell me in five seconds where your punk-ass son and my money is, I’ma gonna blow off your muthafuckin’ head, you understand me?” Keith placed his gun against the side of Momma’s head.
I didn’t know what to do. I looked around the kitchen to see what I could find to help defend Momma, but there wasn’t anything I could use. I then noticed Momma’s apron hanging off the side of the kitchen chair, and it appeared as if something was inside.
I crawled over to the chair and grabbed Momma’s apron. Inside her apron pocket was a small handgun. Chile, I was so scared and nervous. When I took the gun in my hand, my hand started to shake like electricity was going through my entire body.
As I tried to calm myself, I heard, BOOM! BOOM!
I knew Keith had shot my Momma, so the tears had welled up inside of me, and the anger made my blood boil.
I closed my eyes and ran in the living room and started shooting. Once I had shot every bullet, I opened my eyes and saw Keith lying in front of me in his own pool of blood. I turned around, and there was Momma, lying there in her own blood, trying to catch her breath.
“Momma, you’ve been shot,” I cried as I kneeled beside her and held her head in my lap.
“Yes, baby, it-it-it’s o-o-okay,” she whispered, choking on her on blood.
“Momma, you’ll be all right. I’ma call nine one one.” I pulled out my cell phone.
“No, baby, it-it-it will be fast-er if you go get the car and dri-dri-drive me t-t-to the hospital,” she said, holding on to my arm.
“But, Momma, I parked the car all the way up where the Waffle House is, remember?”
“Yeah, baby, I-I-I remember. Just go now!” Momma sounded as though she was taking her last breath.
“Momma, I don’t wanna leave you here like this,” I said, tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Baby, st-sto-stop arguing wit-with me and get da-da car!” Momma stated squeezing my arm.
“Okay, Momma, I won’t be long. I’ma run the whole way. Just hold on. Will you do that for me?” I stood up and wiped the tears from my face.
“Ye-ye-yes, ba-bab-baby, and Cam?”
“Yes, Momma.”
“D-d-do me a fav-fav-favor?”
“Anything, Momma, anything.”
“Turn, turn th-th-that light swi-swi-switch on by th-th-the side of da-da door.”
“Light switch? Okay, Momma. Just hold on and I’ll be back in five minutes, I promise.”
I opened the front door and turned the light switch on and ran out as fast as I could. Once I got to the gate, I couldn’t remember what the dayum code was, so I stood there trying my best to think.
Thank God, on the third attempt I finally got the gate open.
Just as I got to the bottom of the road, I suddenly heard an explosion that was so loud, it literally burned my eardrums. I turned around, and all I could see was Keith’s mansion going up in flames. All I could do was fall to the ground as the tears poured down my face like a waterfall.
I then began to hear one of the neighbors’s dog barking like crazy, and people began turning on their lights, trying to figure out where the loud explosion came from. I stood up and began walking as fast as I could up the road leading to the Waffle House, my heart beating a mile a minute. The more I wiped the tears away, the more they seemed to flow.
As I continued to walk, I saw fire trucks with sirens blaring coming down the road and heading towards Keith’s mansion. All I wanted to do was get to my car. I only had about a block to go, but I felt my legs becoming wobbly as though they were about to give out, and my body was shaking as though I was freezing.
I heard my Momma’s voice ringing in my ear. “Come on, Cameron, man up.”
I made it to the car and locked myself in and cried and shook for several hours. I realized that when Momma had asked me to turn on the living room switch, she knew that it would blow up Keith’s house.
I remembered Uncle Bill telling her before he left that all she had to do was turn on the switch. Instead, I was the one to turn it on, as Momma had requested with her last breath. This time, I had lost her for good. She wasn’t coming back.
“What am I supposed to do now?” I tried to wipe my tears away. “Man up,” Again I heard Momma’s voice ringing in my ears.
I sat there until dawn. Where I could go? Who could I call to comfort me? Who will love and protect me now? Momma had sacrificed her life for me, just to show me how much she truly loved me, but now I sat there feeling so alone. The love she had for me was now gone because she was gone.
As I sat and thought, there was only one person I could call on. I took out my cell phone and made that call.
He answered on the first ring. “Hello.”
“Can you come get me?” I asked, choking up.
“Who is this?”
“Cameron,” I said in a whisper.
“Where are you?”
“I’m at the Waffle House on Route 10. You know where that is?”
“Yeah, I’m on my way.”
Chapter 24
Several months had passed since that night that I’d murdered Momma, my lover, former best friend, and Junior, the bastard that killed my brother Ray. Momma Gerdy thought it would be best if I sought some type of therapy after the tragic murders at the mansion. So, thanks to her, I was in therapy for a couple of months. My therapist said it would be cathartic, help my state of mind, if I wrote down my thoughts.
I knew I needed help because I had been crying pra
ctically every day till my eyes were bloodshot red and swollen to the point where I could hardly see out of them. Not to mention, the depression I felt every time I thought about that night, which seemed to consume me day and night.
The only two good things about seeing a therapist was, I’d begun to pray again, and my prescription drug, Valium. Chile boo, all I can say is, bless the doctor whoever invented Valium, because I had been floating on cloud nine for the past few weeks.
Anywho, let me catch y’all up on what’s been going on since that night. The only person I could think of calling was Zack, and being the nice guy he was, he picked me up, and I’d been living with him ever since.
Z was a perfect gentleman. He took me in his home that night and held me while I cried myself to sleep. We still had not been intimate because he wanted me to make the first move. He wanted me to come to him when I thought I was ready.
To be honest, sex was the last thing on my mind. I loved Z for what he’d done by taking me in and being patient with me, but I wasn’t in love with him. You know what I mean? Besides, I was still trying to deal with what I had done. Omaha’s finest conducted an investigation about who planted the bombs in Keith’s mansion. Momma Gerdy helped me with my alibi, telling the police I was at her house for dinner and stayed there for most of the evening. The police department had theorized that it was probably a rival gang that wanted to get back at Keith and Junior for trafficking on their turf.
The police had found my mother’s body and wanted to know why she might have been there and whether or not I knew she would be there. I had informed them that I had reunited with her just a few months earlier and that we were working on our relationship as mother and son, but I didn’t know she was coming to visit me that day. They also found Robin’s body and wanted to know if I knew who she was. I told them she was my best friend and was dating Keith’s brother, Junior.
They also wanted to know why I was living there and what was the relationship between Keith and me. What could I say but the truth? I informed them that Keith and I were lovers. They had disgust written all over their face, but I didn’t care. I just wanted them to stop questioning me and go after some other gang members for what they did to three of the most important people in my life. I cried and carried on the whole time I was at the police station. Chile, I should have won an academy award for my performance.