Two Tears in a Bucket (34 page)

“
Yeah, I know,” Kevin said, chuckling nervously. He embraced his mother, but his eyes were glued to Simone, checking her out after sixteen years.

Simone could feel his glare. Refusing to acknowledge it, she carelessly glanced around the room.

“
There’s your girl,” Beatrice introduced, taking her seat on the opposite side of Jordan.

“
Hey,” Simone said awkwardly. She had no choice but to look at him then. His hazel eyes, his million-dollar smile, nothing had changed.

“
Damn, girl,” he mumbled as if intoxicated. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around Simone’s waist, embracing her as if they had all day.

“
You look good,” he said as Simone peeled from him and took a seat next to Jordan.

“
Don’t she look good?” Beatrice said.

Kevin couldn’t stop smiling, and shaking his head in disbelief. The pounds Simone had collected over the years had thankfully fallen in the right places. Her breasts were fuller and her ass was rounder. She wasn’t the pretty little freshly developed teenager Kevin had fallen in love with years ago. She was a gorgeous woman—grown and sexy.

“
Mmm, mmm, mmm,” he mumbled. Kissing his two fingers, he placed them on Simone’s thigh and made a playful sizzling noise. “You hot, baby,” he said, before redirecting his attention to Jordan and taking her hands. “So how you doing, baby?”

“
I’m fine, Daddy.” Jordan chuckled, entertained by her mother’s nervousness and her father’s bewilderment. “How you doing?”

“
I’m fine, baby. Marvelous,” he said, winking at her.

Jordan filled the next several minutes with tales from her childhood, all the things that Beatrice, Kevin, and even Simone had missed. Her school plays that Angela had kept a secret, her report cards, and playground brawls. Listening halfheartedly, Simone took in the massive room filled with yellow and blue plastic chairs and inmates dressed in casual clothes.

“
Dang,” she mumbled when her eyes fell upon another couple who were openly displaying their passion in front of the entire visiting room.

“
What’s wrong with that?” Kevin asked, following Simone’s eyes to the couple. “That’s how I used to kiss you.”

Beatrice and Jordan laughed, causing Simone to smile, too.

“
Naw, but that’s all we’re allowed, so we gotta make it worthwhile. Ain’t no conjugal visits up in here. If anybody’s caught doing more than that, they get sent straight to solitary confinement.”

“
How can you do more than that in here anyway?” Simone questioned.

Kevin raised his brow. “Oh, they get creative.”

“
What’s the most you’ve…” Simone followed Kevin’s eyes to Beatrice and Jordan sitting on the edge of their seats. “Oops,” she said, as they shared their first real laugh in years.

“
Mmm, hmm,” Beatrice said. “You lucky Jordan here. ’Cause I would wanna know the answer to that question, too. Then I’d want to know who else was present.”

“
It was nothing like that,” Kevin said. Simone could tell from his facial expression that oh, yes, he had some stories.

Smiling at Simone, he grabbed one of her hands. He felt her tense up, wanting to pull her hand back, but Kevin maintained his hold. He rubbed her hand gently with his thumb, stumbling across her wedding bands. He studied Simone’s simple gold-plated band and diamond ring. Though they weren’t impressive, he envied Andre, for he was the lucky man who’d slipped them on her finger.

“
I didn’t cheat on you, either.”

“
What?” Simone said, sucking her teeth.

“
I mean, I know it doesn’t make a difference now, but I didn’t cheat on you. Nothing happened between me and Rhonda. She was an old flame. I let her come over because I wanted to tell her about you and Jordan,” Kevin explained, smiling shyly at his daughter. “Me and her had always been so on-again, off-again and I wanted her to know that we were done. But things got outta control because I forgot she was coming over. Before I knew it, y’all were going at it, a bunch of niggas was outside, and you were swinging a bat.”

“
Simone,” Jordan said, “you had a bat?”

“
Simone?” Kevin repeated. “What, you one of those new-age mothers? You let your kids call you by your name?”

“
No, my mother stole my child and my title, but you still have yours,” Simone said. She tried to ease her hand from Kevin’s, but he held it even tighter, staring at her.

“
What you mean, your mother stole your child?”

“
Yeah,” Beatrice added, “what do you mean?”

“
Should I even be here for this?” Jordan asked.

“
It’s up to you, baby,” Kevin said.

Simone traveled back to when her heart was freshly broken and Jordan was teeny-tiny. She shared it all—Big Bob selling the drugs Lavon found and the crack-filled baggie that had fallen from her pocket in front of Alicia; the scent in her clothes from an innocent trip to the movies. Most importantly, she shared how Angela had volunteered to watch Jordan while Thomas’s van was being repaired. Simone tap-danced all over her old wounds, bringing the pain back to life. Her father had helped her through those rough times, and just the thought that he was no longer around made the pain even worse.

“
She wouldn’t give her back, so my father told me to call the police.”

“
Wait a minute,” Beatrice said, nearly dangling from the edge of her seat. “Your mother called and told me she had to call the police on you.”

“
Naw,” Simone said, “I called the police on her. My girlfriend Lavon can tell you that. The police met us over there. I had to show them all kinds of ID and everything. Then when I got there, they told her she had to give Jordan back the next day. But I go the next day and she all of a sudden had custody.”

“
And,” Jordan chimed in, “I didn’t even know Simone was my mother until my grandfather told me when I was like eight. That’s when my mother…well, my grandmother told me that she was raising me because y’all didn’t want me with Simone, and she showed me a piece of paper that you signed, Daddy.”

Beatrice sighed deeply. She looked at Kevin and uttered, “And you told me to call her. You knew something wasn’t right.”

“
What?” Simone asked, looking at Kevin. “So you did sign papers?”

“
Simone,” Kevin said, grabbing Simone’s other hand. He didn’t want to point the finger at his mother and would take the blame if he had to.

“
Simone,” Beatrice said, knowing her son would protect her at all costs, “your mother was calling me left and right. One minute, you were on drugs. The next minute, you were leaving Jordan there with her for days and a bunch of other mess. Then when my neighbor said you were high and Alicia said crack fell out of your pocket, I believed it all. I kept telling Kevin about it, and he never believed it. But that night when she called me ranting and raving ’cause she had to call the police on you, that was it. So it was me. I signed the papers on his behalf that night after the police left. That’s how she got custody the very next day.”

“
You signed papers?” Simone asked, surprised at the news.

“
Yeah, Simone, and I’m so sorry.” Beatrice’s words seemed genuine. “I believed everything your mother said. I mean…” She chuckled. “She was your mother. What mother would do something like that to her own child? Like you said, she stole your baby.”

“
I can’t believe she did all that to get me,” Jordan said.

“
Well, we got you back now. I’m your father, and this is your mother. And after hearing everything that she went through, we gotta find a way to drop that Simone stuff, baby. I mean, I’ve loved you your whole life, but we just met yesterday, and instantly you call me Daddy. I love hearing those words. It’s music to my heart, but I think you need to be singing the same song to your mother. Don’t you think?”

Jordan looked at Simone and mumbled, “Yeah, I guess.”

“
Simone, you okay?”

“
I mean
…” She sighed. “What can I do? What can I say? Saying I’m shocked as hell would be an understatement. It’s so ironic the papers were signed, giving Jordan to my mother and Ricardo, and Ricardo was the one on drugs. But,” she said, “it’s done and over with now.”

“
You know, my mother was only—”

“
I’m not mad at you.” Simone cut Kevin off and spoke directly to Beatrice. “I mean, I wish you would’ve called me, but, like I said, it’s over.”

“
Yeah, I wish I would’ve called you, too. Look what happened once the papers were signed. Baby Girl was taken away from everybody.” Beatrice grabbed Jordan by the hand. “C’mon,” she said, pulling Jordan’s hand as she stood. “Let’s go get a soda.”

With B eatrice and Jordan gone, Kevin asked, “So you really not upset with her?”

“
I can’t be upset with her and not be upset with my own mother.”

“
So how are we gonna handle your mother?”

“
What you mean?”

“
I mean, she just flat-out stole Jordan like you said. I’m sure there’s something we can do.”

“
Well, whatever we do to my mother, we have to do to yours, too. My mother orchestrated the whole fiasco, but your mother was a mighty powerful player, as well. A simple little phone call would’ve ended it all.”

“
So, you really don’t wanna do anything?”

“
Nope. It’s like two tears in a bucket.”

“
So fuck it? Just like that?”

“
I mean,” Simone said with a shrug of her shoulders, “if you want to do something, I guess you can take my mother and Ricardo out to dinner.”

“
Out to dinner?” Kevin was taken aback. “How you figure?”

“
Think about it. You didn’t have to provide any financial support and neither did I. I mean, I did for Jordan, but only what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it. My mother and Ricardo did it all.”

“
But, Simone, we didn’t ask them to. Your mother lied to get Jordan and raised her as her daughter.”

“
Yeah, all that’s true, and I actually thought about everything this morning while I was getting dressed. My mother’s my mother, and I love her. The last thing I want to do is start up a war. Despite everything we’ve been through, she and I are finally like mother and daughter. We go shopping; we talk; we laugh, and I don’t want any of that to change. Plus, I can’t harbor ill will towards people. You know how much energy it takes to remain in that space? Just think if I did that, you wouldn’t have met Jordan. Besides,” Simone added, “all my mother wanted was a family, and I know how that feels. I mean, I wouldn’t steal a baby, but I kinda understand the void.”

“
But you have a family. You have a husband and two daughters.”

“
Sounds good, huh? But my husband will probably be gone by the time I get home.”

“
Gone?”

“
Yeah, long story. Just make sure when you get married, you and your wife focus on life after the wedding, not just the actual wedding day. I was so focused on the reception, my dress, my cake, that I didn’t realize who or what I was marrying. Anyway, that’s enough about me. What’s going on with you?”

“
Hell, nothing compared to what’s been happening with you.” Kevin smiled. “I can’t believe how good you look. You look like a supermodel.”

“
Of course I do to you. Look what you have to compare me to,” Simone said, surveying the room.

“
Females work all through the prison, Simone, but you’re top-shelf, baby, for real. Your husband’s a fool.”

“
Hey, I heard you’re Mr. Poetry now. What brought that on?” she asked, changing the subject.

“
Oh, yeah.” Kevin smiled bashfully. “I started writing poetry for some of the guys years ago. They tell me their little situation, their feelings, and I compose either a love letter or a poem for them to mail to their girls.”

“
Really? You should try to do something with your poetic talents.”

“
Well,” Kevin said, preparing to unleash his real passion for the first time. “I don’t write poems anymore. I mean, I do,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “But I’ve turned them into songs. I probably have about two hundred now.”

“
Two hundred? That’s impressive. Sing one.”

“
Huh?” Kevin choked. “I can write ’em, but I damn sure can’t sing ’em. I’ve written a couple of letters, trying to sell some of my compositions, and I got a few responses—”

“
Hold up!” Simone interrupted. “Are they copyrighted?”

“
Naw, not yet. I was just testing the waters a little.”

“
Kevin, its sharks in the water. Somebody will steal your compositions, produce them, and take all your credit. If you want, mail them to me, and I’ll get them copyrighted for you. I’ll see if I can find some books on the music industry and send them to you, too. Who knows? Maybe Jordan and I can sing some of them.”

“
Y’all sing?”

“
Yeah. I’m surprised Jordan didn’t share that with you. We took vocal lessons a while back and everything.”

“
You serious?” he said, laughing in disbelief. “This is so wild. You know, Jordan told me yesterday that you out there doing your thing with real estate. She said you opened up your own company and everything.”

“
Yeah, I love it, too. Lavon and Melanie are my partners.”

“
Get outta here. Y’all still tight?”