Just Make Him Beautiful (42 page)

“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.
“
N
ow
,
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 s
e
,
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 he
a
r Momma as clear as if she was standing right in front of me.

I kept asking
her
, “Can you hear me now
?
C
an you hear me now?”
l
ike 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
!
W
e can live anywhere we want with all this money,” I
said,
excitement in my voice.

“That’s right
,
baby
.
A
nd
New York
, here we come
.
”
Momma sta
r
ted 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 watch
ed
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
.
D
on’t you wanna get back at the bastard that killed your brother?”

“Yes
,
m
a’am.”

“And don’t you wanna get back at that bitch for taking your man?”

“Yes
,
m
a’am.”

“And don’t you wanna get back at that muthafucka for treating you the way he does?”

“Yes
,
m
a’am.”

“Well
,
then just do what I tell you to do and leave the rest up to Momma
.
”
S
he winked at me.

“Okay
,
Janet, I’m done
,”
Uncle Bill stated.  “E
verything is set
, s
o all you have to do is flip the living room switch
.
”

“Fine
.
H
ave a good life
,
and good
-
bye,” Momma said
,
her hands on her hips and twisting her neck.

“Dang
,
Momma
!
Y
ou twist your neck more than I do
.
” I burst
out laughing.

“Boy
,
hush and see your
u
ncle to the door.”

“Yes
,
m
a’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
dr
i
ve 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 g
i
ve 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 G
e
rdy’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 G
e
rdy’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
.
A
re 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
?
W
hy are you looking for your
d
ad?”

“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
!
W
hat’s wrong with you?” Keisha
sat
down on the couch next to me.

“I’m fine
.
I’ll be al
l
right,” I spat raising my voice.

“Well
ex
cuse me,” she responded as she got up and went into the kitchen.

“Sweetie, you sure you’re ok
ay
?
” 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
,
D
ad.”

“Well
,
sweetie, it’s Saturday
.
H
e might be over at the lodge
,
or he could be down at the church
.
D
id 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 head
ed
for the front door.

“Sweetie, what do you mean
,
of all places?
What happened
?
W
hat did he do?”

“Ma, I can’t explain now.
I just need to find him. I
’ll
call you later and explain everything, ok
ay.
” I walk
ed
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 ma
ybe 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 d
id
n’t see why Momma wouldn’t go for that
.
B
esides, 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
m
ansion.
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.