“What do you think I just said?”
“That you like Zeke, you don’t like Essence, and we have to figure out how to make Zeke like you before he leaves for college. But I think he already likes you. He is so nice he seems to like everybody.”
“
Aaaaaggghhh!
Not that kind of like, girl. I want to get with him.”
“Now, that’s the part you lost me on.”
“Sex him. Now do you understand.”
“Nooooo! You can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“You’re not married.”
“Here we go again,” LaKisha said, frustrated. “Obviously, you’re still a virgin. But hasn’t your mother had boyfriends?”
“Nope, just two husbands.”
“Well, they had to be her boyfriend before they were her husband.”
“I guess.”
“And don’t you think she sexed them before they became her husband?”
“No.”
“Then how did she know she wanted to marry them? I mean, who wants to marry somebody who doesn’t know how to sex? So if you do it before you get married and find out they can’t do it good, you can dump them before you get married.”
“Is that all marriage is about?”
“Pretty much. So just do it and avoid all the marriage-divorce drama.”
“I really don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work.”
“Well, none of it works, if you ask me.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, look at my mama. Plenty of boyfriends, some got high with her, some beat her butt, none of them married her or took care of her, so she did what she had to do. She sold drugs, got caught, and is now locked up.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that.”
“Why else would I be living with my grandmother?”
“I don’t know. I guess I thought maybe she died or something.”
“Almost, a few times. But I have a praying grandmother.”
“And prayer works, LaKisha. You have to believe that. My mom prayed us out of Richmond all the way to Atlanta. God took care of us all the way. My mom left my dad because of drugs, but I think her prayers kept my dad’s drug use from doing to her what your mother’s boyfriends’ drug use did to her. It seems to me that prayer made the difference. God even gave her a new drug-free husband, and she didn’t even pray for him, so she got more than what she prayed for.”
“Do you like your mother’s husband?”
“He’s cool.”
“He mess with you?”
“Huh?”
“He touch you like he touch your mom?”
“Are you crazy? Of course not! My granddaddy would kill him dead. What kind of man would do that?”
“One of my mother’s boyfriends.”
“Dang, I’m sorry, LaKisha. Did you tell anybody?”
“Who would believe me? Besides, right after that, Mama got locked up, and we were with Gramma, and I don’t have to ever worry about that happening with Gramma.”
“That’s good. Keep that thought. But I think you should tell your grandma. I’m sure she would believe you. I know mine would. Tell your mom too, so that she can pick her friends better.”
“I might. When she gets out, she does need to do things differently.”
“If she hangs around nicer people, she’ll do nicer things, and those bad things won’t happen to you anymore. Let’s change the subject, though. This is getting depressing,” Shay said.
“Back to Zeke,” LaKisha said.
“No, not him either, because that’s going to lead to you dogging out Essence, who I think is cool being a college cheerleader and all. Let’s talk about when you’re going to do my hair. I just love what you did to my nails.”
“Okay, party pooper, how do you want your hair?”
“Okay, let’s see.”
Micah decided to give Pam a call, maybe invite her to dinner. Something definitely sparked at the pool party, but he had to be sure that his heart and mind were clear, with all the drama going on in his life. He was glad that Pam was home and was sure that from now on, they would always be friends. Zakia and Eboni had been like mothers to Jaron since his biological mother, Simone, moved to Las Vegas. They hardly ever heard from her, but she was informed that Jaron had gotten into trouble. She said she would trust Micah to handle it and to let her know if they needed anything. Jaron had long since stopped needing her for anything, and Micah never did. He was doing fine being a single dad.
Pam agreed to have dinner with him. He said he would pick her up at six-thirty, which gave him several hours to attempt to shift his world back into some sort of normal condition so that his conversation wouldn’t reflect the chaos.
B
ea was happy that Pam was going out. Her doctors were amazed with Bea’s rapid recovery, which she attributed to Pam’s care. Her daughter and granddaughter had brought new life into her home. Now that Pam was settled, she needed to relax and have fun. Micah rang the doorbell promptly at six-thirty, and Taylor answered it.
“Hello, Mr. Micah,” she said, remembering him from their pool party introduction.
“Hello, Taylor.”
“Come in and have a seat. Mommy will be right down.”
“Hello, Ms. Bea,” Micah said when he entered the house and saw Bea sitting on the sofa in front of the TV.
“Hello, honey. You’re looking mighty fine this evening.”
“Thank you, ma’am. So are you. How are you feeling?” he asked as he kissed her on the forehead and sat down beside her with his arm across the back of the sofa behind her.
“I’m feeling a lot better these days.”
Micah had considered bringing all three ladies flowers but decided to get a temperature reading first. He didn’t want anyone to make assumptions about his intentions. With all that was going on in his life, he would take Zakia’s advice and let the Spirit lead. Although his instincts told him to take flowers, he didn’t feel led, so he didn’t.
“Hello, Micah. Don’t you look dashing?” Pam complimented him as she entered the room.
He stood as she approached him.
“Thank you. And you are as radiant as ever.”
“Still charming, I see.”
“Are you hungry?” he asked, blushing.
“A little.”
“Great. That sounds like nothing heavy. I know just the place.”
“Good. I’m ready,” Pam said.
“Then let’s make like a banana and—”
“Don’t. No corn,” she said, laughing, putting a stop to his worn-out punch line.
Micah laughed.
“Night, Ma. Ten-thirty, Taylor, lights out,” she said as she blew both of them a kiss.
“Good night, ladies,” Micah said, still laughing because Pam never, even when they were kids, let him finish a silly joke. She couldn’t deal with a corny boyfriend, she would say, but he knew she secretly loved it.
Not much has changed at all,
he thought.
They went to the very popular Raven Restaurant. It was upscale with a swanky atmosphere, where businesspeople took clients and men took first dates to make a good impression.
Since at the pool party they had caught each other up on their lives, and since Pam was an attorney, it was inevitable that they discussed Jaron’s situation over dinner. They both tried to think of something else to talk about, but the fact of the matter was that there was nothing else to discuss. Pam had personal and professional thoughts on the issue, but she would not push, recognizing Micah’s discomfort with laying his burdens on her. She did want him to truly believe that all was forgiven for his infidelity with Simone that resulted in Jaron’s birth, which caused Pam to run away from him twenty-one years before. Discerning that this might be the cause of Micah’s hesitancy to discuss his son, she silently reached across the table and placed a reassuring hand on his that broke the ice for Micah.
“I really don’t know what I would do without Zach. That brother has stuck by me like Jaron is
his
son.”
Pam saw an opportunity to further break the ice.
“Are you sure he’s not? Kidding. I’m just kidding. If a knockout like Sheba Spencer couldn’t keep Zach’s attention back in high school, surely Simone couldn’t even get it. I’m sorry. That is your baby’s mama. Please forgive me.” Pam laughed.
Her plan worked. Micah was shocked, to say the least, but relieved that Pam was still a down-home girl with a wild sense of humor who said what she felt and didn’t sugarcoat it. The flame was being fanned. With the ice broken, they talked about the case in depth. He told her how he had convinced Jaron to at least go to a junior college, since he insisted that he wanted to get straight to work after high school and own his own business like Zach.
“Zach has always been a strong influence ever since we were kids. Thank God he’s a positive one,” Pam said.
“That he is. So much so that he gave Jaron and a couple of his classmates some old computers that his company no longer used to start a little rebuilt-computer business,” Micah explained.
“That’s our Zach,” she said.
“Absolutely. Always there, always on time, always making a difference,” he responded. “He beat the odds, single mom household, no college, just a will and the drive to make it happen.”
“Sometimes that’s all you need,” Pam said.
“And a faith-filled prayer warrior for a twin sister doesn’t hurt,” Micah said.
“Can only enhance and facilitate whatever he has going on.”
“Well, that’s exactly how they work it,” Micah said.
“Then with that twin team on your side, working it like that, I’ve got a feeling everything is going to be all right,” Pam said. “You want to tell me what happened?”
Micah, feeling comfortable, safe, and secure with his friend, began to share the whole ordeal.
“Jaron and his partners were delivering some computers in a rough neighborhood. His partner, Justin, had a gun. He said it was in case somebody tried to jack them. He never expected to have to use it. Jaron even told Justin to leave the gun behind, that they would be okay without it, but he watched Justin put the gun in the small of his back anyway and pull his shirt over it.
“They met these guys on campus who wanted to buy some computers they were working on for the business they started. Jaron said later that the guys looked out of place on campus, but Jaron and Justin were concentrating on making the sale, so they accepted a down payment that included an extra charge for delivery. So in their naiveté they went to deliver the computers to the address they were given. They were initially hesitant once they learned the delivery point, but the agreement and down payment made them overcome their apprehension. They agreed to deliver the computers that night.
“As soon as they saw the four guys approach them after they got out of the van, they knew the deal wouldn’t close. They recognized a Latin-looking guy as the one who gave them the money to deliver the computers, but the other ones were strangers—and mean-looking. They surrounded the boys and ordered them to put the computers in the back of a van. Jaron and Justin were standing back-to-back looking at the guys. Then Jaron said he remembered that Justin had his gun. Maintaining hope that the situation wasn’t as bad as it seemed, Jaron told the guy he had dealt with earlier that they could have all six computers for six hundred dollars instead of the original twelve hundred.
“Instead of being shown the money, though, Jaron and Justin were shown the barrel of a nine-millimeter. Jaron described the gunman as a big, fat, bodyguard type who asked for their wallets. Jaron and Justin were still standing back-to-back when Jaron heard the gun click. He said he instinctively reached under Justin’s shirt, snatched the gun, and cocked it as Justin turned around, hitting his arm. The gun went off, shooting the bodyguard in the head. I bet the last thing he expected was Jaron’s reaction. The other guys ran, and so did Jaron and Justin. Jaron went to Zeke’s and called the police from there. Jaron didn’t know if the guy was going to shoot them or not. All he knew is that he had a gun in his face in a neighborhood where people died from bullet wounds on a regular basis. He was trying to survive.”
And that should be his defense,
Pam thought.
G
race heard the mail truck pull off as she was coming down the stairs. She went to retrieve the mail from the box. Among the junk were three letters from the Women’s Correctional Facility. She gave her grandchildren their letters from their mother, and she read hers.
“Ma said now she is helping Rae teach Bible study and that we should be reading our Bibles,” LaKisha said.
“That’s what she said in my letter too,” Damon said, excited about his mail. “Gramma, can you buy me a Bible? An easy one, with pictures?”
Damon loved his mother and was excited about any good news concerning her. He wanted to please her even while she was in jail; therefore, anything that she asked him to do he had every intention of doing. He tried to please her in the past, but she was often otherwise occupied and didn’t notice. So Damon would act out. School and medical professionals labeled him as hyperactive, when all he wanted was his mother’s attention.
“Of course, darling, first chance I get. What about you, LaKisha? They have Bibles specifically for teenagers.”
LaKisha nodded enthusiastically; she wanted her own Bible too. Grace knew if she had just up and bought her grandchildren Bibles and insisted that they read them, they never would, so in her wisdom, she waited on the Lord to get them to ask her for Bibles. Now she would make probably the most important investment in the lives of her grandchildren.
The next day Zeke, Ahmad and Essence came to pick up Damon to take him to get a haircut. Essence rushed into the bathroom as soon as they entered the house. LaKisha broke out of her room when she heard Zeke’s voice. She was barefoot and dressed in very tight, very short shorts with a tank top that exposed her pierced belly button.
“Hello, Zeke,” she sang, having just finished doing her hair and thanking God for perfect timing.
“Hey, LaKisha. Your hair looks nice,” he complimented her.
“Thank you,” she said, feigning a blush as she moved closer to him, sticking out her chest and behind.
“Don’t encourage her,” Essence said, coming out of the bathroom and startling LaKisha.
LaKisha jerked around and went up in Essence’s face.
“Why you all up in my business, huh? You doing him?” she asked in her toughest voice while rolling her neck. She was boiling mad.