The Corner II (24 page)

“Don’t worry, baby. My mother is down to earth and so are you. The two of you will get along just fine.”

“I hope so. I just want to make a good impression,” Lisa told him.

He smiled and gave her an assuring kiss on the cheek then got out of the car. His mother was already in the doorway waiting for her baby and his friend that he’d been telling her about. Devin grabbed the bags out of the trunk, and Lisa came to the rear of the car to help. She did that instead of going to the porch to meet his mother by herself. Devin grinned and she knew what for.

They were shielded by the raised trunk. She slapped him on the arm, tugged on a bag and whispered, “Don’t laugh, you know I’m nervous as hell. Let me get a bag.”

He pulled at the bag and whispered back, “And have my mom getting on me that I had you carry some bags? Uh, uh. I got this.”

He closed the trunk, and the thin light-skinned woman standing on the porch of the recently built home sounded so sweet when she yelled, “Devin, hurry and get up here. I haven’t seen you in so long.”

“I gotta get the bags, Mom.”

“You better not be having that pretty little young lady carrying anything. That’s not how I raised my boy,” she said as she stood on her tippy toes moving her torso side-to-side, trying to see if Lisa had any bags in her hands.

Devin gave Lisa a,
what I tell you,
look as he took the bag she was carrying from her and headed for the house. Once they reached the porch, Devin’s mother gave him a hug then extended her arms for Lisa to come in close for a hug also. The small woman hugged Lisa tightly and told her that it was good to finally meet her. Her hug was strong for such a diminutive woman. Lisa assumed that Devin got his size from his father. Devin’s mother told Lisa to call her Clara and not Mrs. Anderson. She then looked Lisa over, who was wearing a baby blue Baby Phat sweat suit that wasn’t too tight. She didn’t want to give Devin’s mother the wrong impression. Clara looked Lisa over then told her that it looked like she was ready for some home cooking. Devin’s mother was from Arkansas and grew up eating well and that meant that Devin did also. Whenever someone was in her home and that person didn’t have what she considered being a lot of meat on their bones, she was ready to start
burning
for them.

The kitchen and dining area were decorated country style, and the smell of the food was definitely making Lisa’s stomach growl, and she hoped Clara and Devin didn’t hear it. She had wanted to stop and eat at one of the Denny’s, Bob Evan’s or Ihop’s that they’d passed on the way down, but Devin knew that his mother was going to cook. So all Lisa had was a Honey Bun and that wore off a couple of hours ago, and she was ready to slam on the food that was before her. Eggs, grits, bacon, country ham, home fries, homemade cinnamon breakfast rolls, homemade buttermilk biscuits, apple butter and her choice of OJ, apple juice, milk or water was spread beautifully over the table for her picking.

She fixed Devin’s plate and then hers. She didn’t notice that Clara had given an approving grin to that move, but Devin did. Once Lisa was finished serving her man she sat down to dig into the food and to converse with Devin’s mother since she knew questions were coming and they did.

Clara asked about Lisa’s job. She was surprised because Shay had told her to be prepared to answer questions about her parents. That most men’s mothers wanted to know about a woman’s upbringing, but Devin had taken care of all of that. He didn’t want Lisa to feel embarrassed, so he had told his mother all about Lisa’s father not being around and her mother being killed by a jealous boyfriend. Devin’s mother was a sweet woman and very understanding, and she wanted to make sure that her son’s friend didn’t feel uneasy. She wanted her to feel welcomed seeing as how her son had told her that he was in love.

*     *     *

Carlos pressed the end button on his cell then set it on the nightstand. LaTanza came walking in the bedroom wearing nothing but a pair of sexy panties. She smelled of lavender, and her body had a glow from the expensive crème she’d rubbed all over to keep her skin tone even and smooth. Carlos had just received a message that another one of his lieutenant’s spots were hit, this time without a fatality unlike the other night at Chavez’s spot, but it was with the loss of several kilos. Even though he felt like spending quality time with his wife, they hadn’t made love since his father was killed last month and he figured that it was time to indulge in his wife’s sweet loving. He assumed that she was hurt by the loss of her father-in-law; just as he was, so he figured that’s why she hadn’t been intimate with him. Little did he know that she was holding back from him. The pain she felt ever since she eavesdropped on him and his father talking about a woman named Angelica who might have his child was too much for her to handle. She vowed not to give Carlos anymore of herself, especially now that she knew that he’d betrayed her in the most damaging way—shared his seed with another woman—a woman who she had been trying her best to find.

LaTanza sat on the silk sheets and fluffed up her pillow as Carlos watched her beautiful breasts bounce as she did so. He assumed that she wanted to make love seeing as how her breasts were swollen and nipples erect. Little did he know that she had just gotten herself off in the bathroom and if a nut was what he wanted he’d better get it by himself or get up and head out to that bitch’s crib. That’s what she was hoping for. That way the private detective Styles set her up with could find out where the woman lived.

Carlos leaned toward her and caressed her breasts as she lay still. He gazed into her eyes as he felt himself stiffening. “Baby I want to make love to you,” he whispered softly.

She sounded so convincing when she said, “After your father’s death it’s been hard for me and Carlita. She’s been asking a lot of questions, some I don’t know how to answer. It’s taking a toll on me and I keep having dreams.”  Her entire statement was a lie, but she knew how to deceive. When her daughter did ask the question about her Grandfather, LaTanza knew how to comfort her daughter without a problem. Her dreams weren’t as frequent as they used to be because that evilness that was inside her was on the outside now, hiding the good wife, friend and mother. Carlos and his father had brought the evil LaTanza out when she overheard them talking about Carlos having a baby with his mistress and taking what was to be their daughter’s inheritance and giving it to a bastard child and its whore mother.

The hair on the back of LaTanza’s neck rose like a porcupine going into defense mode and she got goosebumps from her chemical imbalance that was kicking in. She didn’t like the feel of Carlos’ touch anymore. She felt as if that woman’s DNA was being rubbed onto her skin. She had to stop his touch. She rolled over telling him, “I just don’t feel like it. Can you let me go to sleep, maybe another night?”

Carlos rolled to his side of the bed and turned his light out. LaTanza did the same.

After about five minutes, Carlos got out of bed and left the bedroom. LaTanza lay there hoping that he was fed up and was going to leave to see his whore. She waited several minutes hoping to hear the roar of Carlos’ V12 engine to his Mercedes. She heard nothing. After waiting another fifteen minutes she decided to take a stroll down the hallway. When she saw the light coming from under the door to Carlos’ office she crept closer and listened as he talked on the phone. She just knew it was that bitch. But with further listening she found out that her husband had planned on meeting with Lucky to put together a deal to possibly work together to push the loose cannon, Bone, out of the way. Carlos was explaining that he had nothing to do with Lucky’s spots that were being hit and that they needed to do something about the confusion and problems that were being caused by none other than Bone who Lucky received word had made a pact with a few of the dealers that were large but nowhere near as big as Lucky and Carlos. Noonie had also given Lucky information that he’d received from Boogie, the man in Bone’s camp who Noonie had talked to at the club the night Cat was grinding all up on Bone. He told Noonie that Bone was about to start getting his drugs from the Giadanos who were the same mob outfit that Slim used to get some of his drugs from before a problem had come about. The Giadanos were still looking to settle a score with Slim and things looked a little fucked up with Bone now dealing with them. He was getting stronger by the day and Lucky figured it was time to cripple his ass.

LaTanza knew she had to make a move. She thought that her husband was getting weak. He was starting to make truces and pacts with people his father would have never dealt with. She knew that this could be the downfall of their moneymaking and she wasn’t about to let that happen. She and her daughter’s future of never having a want or need were in jeopardy—at least in her mind that is.

*     *     *

Early morning service at the First Baptist Church was like any other Sunday. Reverend Daniel Brown put on a show. Lisa hadn’t seen a show like this one in awhile. The Reverend really had the spirit in him on this day. When it was over, she was really feeling good. She sat in between Devin and Clara and it felt as if they were a happy family as they took in the Word. At the end of the service, Clara insisted on Lisa meeting and Devin saying hi to the reverend. They met the Reverend who gave Lisa a firm handshake and invited her back for evening service. Devin told the Reverend that they would have if it wasn’t for them going to the Colts football game at the RCA dome. The game started at four fifteen and it was one thirty so they had to get moving so they could get changed and make it to their seats. Clara had driven her own car so the two could make their way, and she could go have dinner buffet style at the Golden Coral with some of the sisters from the church.

Payton Manning was his usual self, and running back Joseph Addia was coming into his own. The Colts beat down their opponents by over twenty points. Devin had cheered his ass off while wearing a Dwight Freeney jersey. Lisa had purchased a pink cap with the NFL logo on it and wore a Colts t-shirt to please Devin. She bargained with him that he’d have to get some Bears tickets and wear a Bears shirt to their game. Being a die-hard Bears fan, Lisa felt as if she was cheating on her favorite team with the Colts t-shirt she was wearing, so she felt Devin had to do the same.

After the game they went back to his mother’s home. They had eaten pizza, nachos and a lot of other junk while at the game so they weren’t that hungry, but his mother had made a homemade apple pie and Lisa’s stomach wasn’t going to let her miss out on tasting what had the house smelling so good. They sat in the family room and ate the warm pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the top. The hot and cold treat was too good. Clara had the scented candles going and the gas fireplace was burning. The temperature had dropped to a chilly thirty-four degrees and was unseasonably cold for the last week of October but made for a comfortable night to be indoors relaxing by a fire.

“So who is that in the picture? Is that your sister you told me about?”  Lisa asked Devin. The picture that was above the fireplace in the five by seven frame was India—Devin’s older sister. She looked so beautiful in the picture that had to be old seeing as she was wearing Damaged jeans. Devin had told Lisa that his sister had died in nineteen-ninety from a crack overdose. She felt bad for him when he told her because she could see the pain in his eyes when he discussed her while they laid in bed one night when they were pillow talking, getting to know each other.

“Yeah, that’s her.”  He managed a smile as he reminisced about his older sister. He didn’t go any further and moved away from the picture, and Lisa took the hint.

Clara was talking as she was heading back to the family room. It was a hard subject to talk about for Devin’s mother. Her oldest and only daughter had gone away to Los Angeles when she was only eighteen. She had always wanted to be an actress, and against her mother's wishes she took every dime she’d saved from working at the grocery store her last two years of high school to move to L.A. after graduating. Needless to say, she met a wanna be director who told her that he’d pay her a grand to star in an independent film. He told the young and eager, yet naïve, teenager all she had to do was show up and the job was hers. She did and come to find out it was just a rented mansion where porn movies were being made. She almost walked away, but when a thousand dollars and
something
to calm her nerves was placed in her hands, she tried the drug and the rest was history. She went from smoking the cocaine-laced marijuana, better known as primos, to smoking crack in a matter of weeks. Her days of smoking were the cause of no one hearing from her for weeks at a time. Then those weeks turned to months. Then one dark day the L.A. County sheriff’s department called. When Clara answered the phone and the man on the other end acknowledged who he was, Clara broke down because she knew it was only a matter of time before the Lord came for her child who’d gotten lost in the unforgiving world of drugs—Devin was only twelve at the time.

  Devin and Lisa stayed up with his mother and watched a movie, then it was time to get some rest. They were leaving early even though Mr. Goldstein had given Lisa Monday off since she was going to the Colts game. Lisa went to the bedroom that she’d slept in the night before, Devin’s room. It was a fairly new house that was built after Devin went off to college, but his mother had decorated it with all of his awards, trophies and pictures from when he was in school—football, baseball and basketball. Lisa read all the articles that were hung up and looked over all the trophies. He was all-city in every sport and had gone to the famous U, the University of Miami and played alongside some of the greats that went on to the NFL. Lisa wondered why hadn’t he, since he had a lot of awards from college also. All Big East first team defense his junior and senior years, and if she was correct the years he played, Ray Lewis and some of the other notable stars were playing there at the same time. She figured he must have gotten injured or something. She selfishly thought that it was for the best because if he’d gone pro, she would have missed out on meeting him and becoming his woman.