Saint And Sinners (27 page)

She nodded and collapsed onto the partially covered over-stuffed brown chair in the
foyer area. Xenia had it set up so elegantly. A large plant with lustrous green leaves
brushed against the arm and a substantial silver-framed painting of two black boys
riding bikes down a city square from the 1800s rested above it. Too bad peace was
not in the picture right at that moment, too…

*

“And that’s been
the whole problem!” Xenia blurted, the vein on the side of her neck pulsating as
she pointed her finger in her mother’s direction.

“You lower your damn tone with me, Xenia Donnellson Aknaten, and I’m not playin’ around
with you, little sista! You just thank you can talk to me any ol’ kinda way!”

“Oh, you want respect now, huh?” Xenia sneered. “The
same
respect you gave me out there by that door?!” Xenia pointed towards the area of the
home where the viciousness first began.

Oh shit…not this again…

The two women hadn’t even noticed he’d walked in and taken a seat at their little
show, front and center. All that was missing was a big bucket of buttery popcorn and
the beginning credits of the movie rolling out before his eyes.

“Look.” His mother-in-law sighed and held her heavy chest, placing her hand delicately
upon it as if possibly feeling pain in her heart. “Xenia, I’m sorry if you think I
disrespected you. I didn’t want to come up in here and fight my own daughter, okay?”
Pam had suddenly cooled, no doubt realizing Xenia wasn’t going to take any shit from
her. It was odd to see, yet he appreciated Pam taking the high road after derailing
the whole damn track.

Xenia grimaced and crossed her arms. Clearly, she wasn’t trying to hear it…still mad
as a bee stuck in a hive with no damn honey. He inwardly grinned.

Stubborn like her mama…

“Look…here is the damn situation. As stupid as this is going to sound, I’m just comin’
out and sayin’ it and I haven’t even told your sister this.”

“What?” Concern coated the word as Xenia released it from her lips. Her body tightened
up ever so slightly.

“Hassani’s eyes turned red on me. Do you hear me?! That boy is got somethin’ goin’
on!” Mama Pam pointed out the kitchen at no one in particular, but that damn finger
was meant for his son. Before he could think quickly on his feet, come up with a handy
explanation, he observed the color drain from his wife’s face as she gulped, audibly
so. It appeared that her tongue had disappeared, too, for no words came out, not even
a murmur.

Shit! This isn’t supposed to happen until he is grown! ’Til he is thirty-five or older.
What is going on?!

“Did you hear me?” Pam said a bit louder. “He was mad as hell, and his eyes turned
red and it ain’t the first time I saw it, neither. This is like the third damn time!
I thought I was seeing things, but then it happened again and no, before you ask,”
she pointed in her daughter’s face, “I haven’t been smoking anything or drinking,
either. I’m sober as they come and I saw it! You hear me, I saw it with my own two
eyes and you as his mama, I know you, Xenia…I know you seen it too!” She pointed in
Xenia’s face, her anger back at the forefront. “Now
tell
me how that boy got like that!”

“Xenia…” Saint got to his feet, still holding his daughter who was now awake, but
not saying a word. “Tell her…” He smiled at his wife, letting her know it was okay.
No matter what happened, they were going to handle this the best way they knew how.
With the truth…

“Mama, you see, this is hard to explain but—”

“He got some ocular disease, don’t he?!” the woman blurted. “I looked it up on Porsche’s
computer. Why wouldn’t you tell me he had that condition, Xenia?! How could you keep
something like that from me?!” The woman barreled toward her daughter, surrounded
her in a meaty hug.

Saint looked at the ground with a smirk. When he glanced back up, Xenia shrugged and
offered him a wimpy smile while her mother’s fleshy, pale arms surrounded her, giving
comfort that was not needed.

“Mama, Hassani doesn’t have hyper-pigmentation, or anything else you may have read
online. Look, have a seat…” Xenia pointed to one of the chairs at the breakfast bar,
one not already covered with a small opened box marked, ‘Glasses’ and ‘Fragile.’

Pam sniffed, still grasping her unlit cigarette as she slid onto the red leather bar
chair. She slumped down, as if defeated. Xenia stood on the other side of the counter,
planting her palms firmly on it as she looked down at her mother. There was no way
she was prepared for this conversation, but in typical fashion, she would deal with
it because the elephant was in the room, stomping around, knocking over the fine China.

“If you need my help, honey, I’m here…” Saint murmured as he sat next to his mother-in-law.
Pam shot him a weary glance.

“Why are you both acting like I’m about to attend a funeral?” The woman was now visibly
unnerved. It broke his heart to see Pam so concerned, so fraught with anxiety. Her
fretful energy could be smelled; it surrounded him, entered his nostrils and made
him feel tinges of sorrow on her behalf.

“Mama, remember when you said you’d seen your mother’s ghost?”

Pam looked at Xenia inquisitively, swallowed then tossed a casual, almost dismissive
glance towards the refrigerator. “Xenia, can I have something to drink, please?” she
requested dryly.

“Of course, Mama.” Xenia poured a tall glass of water and handed it to the woman.
Pam took a nervous sip, and then another. “Are you ready to hear this?”

“Yeah…” Pam set the glass down then pushed it some distance away, as if it were in
her way.

“Okay.” Xenia briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “When you told me you’d
seen Grandmama’s ghost, I believed you. I hadn’t seen her, but I missed her so much.
It gave me comfort that she’d come to visit you. Now, strange things happen sometimes.
Some people would consider what you said to be strange, Mama. They may not even have
believed you.” Xenia shrugged. “Many people don’t believe in things they can’t see
and aren’t used to. You see, Hassani’s vision is 20/20, Mama. He has no diseases that
would cause blindness, vision problems, nothing. I think deep down, Mama, you knew
that. You were just hoping for an explanation.”

Her mother looked away, down at her own folded arms on the table.

“That’s one thing about you, Mama… You’ve always been quite aware. I figured this
moment in time would come, but I didn’t know how to speak to you about it. Now, I
honestly haven’t seen my son’s eyes turn colors, I want to assure you of that, but
regardless, I know what’s going on. Back to what I was saying though…” She took another
deep breath. “Saint always tells me I’m the rational one. If something can’t be proven,
then I don’t believe it. Well, that’s only true in my career. I’m a big time dreamer
actually. I think the possibilities of this world and beyond are endless.” She raised
her arm in the air. “Unfortunately, there was a time in my life when I was dismissive.
I became a naysayer. That train of thought also dripped into my personal life, and
it didn’t help me. We have to keep an open mind because there are things going on
that just have no clear explanations. For instance, me falling in love with Saint,
Mama.”

Pam glanced over at Saint, offered a tight smile and turned back to Xenia.

“If someone pulled me aside eleven, twelve years ago and told me this would be my
life, I would have never believed them. I never even
considered
dating a man that wasn’t black, yet here I am, happier than I’ve ever been, with
a biracial man that is half Korean and half Egyptian.” She laughed sadly. “I have
three
wonderful children from this man.” She shot Saint a loving glance. He caught it and
winked at her. “And, with all of that, with how beautiful my marriage is, how wonderful
he treats me, we still have our challenges.”

“All couples do,” Mama Pam interjected, looking down at her lap.

“Yeah, but sometimes our challenges are a bit different than most, Mama. You see,
Saint is a complicated person. He appears easygoing, but there is so much more going
on that no one else knows. I’ll get into that in a moment. Let me tie all of this
together before I get off track.” Xenia shut her eyes briefly and sighed. “If you
believe in God, Mama, which I
know
you do, then what I’m about to tell you shouldn’t be too hard to believe, too farfetched.
You believe in angels, too. That’s why I brought up Grandmamma. Mama, Hassani’s eyes
change colors because his father’s eyes change colors, too. It is hereditary and he
just happened to get that trait.”

“Oh.” The woman grinned sheepishly. “Well then, that explains it.” She sat a bit higher
in her seat. “Okay, that’s fine. I’m gonna go ahead and take a look around now.” She
nervously reached for her purse. “This house, from what I’ve seen, is real nice!”

“Mama Pam.” Saint ran his hand affectionately along her back. “We both know you know
that’s not the end of the story. You don’t need to be afraid, okay?” He reached low
and kissed the trembling woman’s cheek.

“Saint is…
different
, Mama. The names, how it happened, all of that is not important, and you might just
find it confusing if I got into too much detail. Let’s just say, he has abilities
that most other people don’t and due to those abilities, sometimes he gets…emotional.
Those emotions show in his eyes. I have seen every color of the rainbow in that man’s
irises, even purple now!” Xenia pointed at him and grinned, though her expression
was tinged with sorrow.

“Hassani is exhibiting these traits. I honestly wasn’t aware his eyes were changing
colors, just like I admitted. From what I was told, that would not happen until he
was grown.” Xenia hung her head and sighed. “Maybe it’s kind of like puberty, you
know, his body is testing it out. I don’t know. The traits aren’t consistent right
now, he is too young, but one day, he more than likely will be just like his father.
Mama…what I’m trying to say is, Saint is psychic.” Xenia looked down at the floor,
no doubt shocked herself that she just came on out and said it.

Pam shot Saint a look, her mouth hanging open like a mailbox flap full of junk mail
and small packages.

“Ain’t no such things as psychics!” She slapped her palms against the counter. “You
charge $12.99 a minute, don’t cha?!” The woman cackled. “Tell me my future, Saint!
Or do I need to wait for you to get your crystal ball and wrap yo’ head in a silk
scarf? I’ll wait!” she chided, turning red in the face as she continued to guffaw.

Xenia smiled and turned away, busying herself with some dishes in the sink. She was
now laying the ball in his court. It was time for him to jump in and make a jump shot,
try his hand at it.

“Well, Mama, we tried. Don’t ever forget I attempted to tell you,” Xenia said, pushing
forward her last ditch effort, as she clutched a glass with soapy hands.

“So now,” Pam said, “Hassani psychic too, huh? He got tha gift and he know how to
use it! Y’all some damn fools!” She was practically falling off her chair now, laughing
so hard she could barely contain herself. “Fine, don’t tell me then! As long as he
can see, and he okay, that’s all I care about.”

“Mama Pam, Xenia and I are not playing a game.”

“So you and my grandbaby psychic, huh? If that was true, I should kick both of y’all
asses to Kingdom Come because I needed the numbers to the lottery
years
ago!” Pam was delirious with hysterics.

Saint began to laugh as well, then reached for her glass of water that she’d discarded
like an old lover. Dipping his finger into the glass, he then lifted it high, allowing
the small drip of water to flow down his digit.

“What the hell are you doing?” Pam asked between chuckles.

“Oh, just getting my finger wet so this will go a bit quicker. You see,” Saint calmly
cleared his throat. “I discovered that, if I use a conductor, I can read people a
bit faster. My friend Lawrence taught me that not too long ago. Of course, that is
awkward and most people don’t want you to get them wet, but I’m sure since you think
this is some snake oil show, a gimmick, a joke being played on you, you’d oblige me.”

“Get me wet, huh?” The woman grinned at him mischievously, making him recoil in his
seat at the sickening sexual innuendo.

“Oh, Mama!” Xenia cried, her face wrapped in obvious disgust.

“I’m just kiddin’! Just like you two, shit! I can’t play, too?! Well, y’all ain’t
no fun!” She began to laugh again until Saint touched her heart, the water from the
tip of his finger leaving a dark mark on her shirt, and looked deeply into her eyes.

“Be open…open your mind for me,” he whispered into her ear, keeping Isis steady on
his lap.

“Okay, you’re goin’ too far now. Ain’t nobody got time for this shit, Saint.” Her
smile quickly faded as she fixed him with narrowed eyes, up close and personal. She
began to squirm in her seat, obviously feeling mighty uncomfortable once she realized
the ‘jig’ wasn’t being called to a halt.