When All Hell Breaks Loose (27 page)

I’m laughing. Phil says some wild shit for him to be twenty-eight.
You would think someone that age would be pretty stable, but Phil is buck wild. “Phil, that was messed up, what you said.”

“Hey, I call it like I see it. A titty bumper is a titty bumper.” Phil looks out the window and checks his watch. “What are y’all doing for lunch?”

“I don’t know, but I’m hungry already,” Eric says.

“I don’t have any plans,” I add.

Jamal gets up from my desk. “Me either. Why don’t we go to Jo Mama’s?”

“Cool, I’ll meet you two in the parking lot in an hour.” Phil leaves and heads back to the meeting room.

“Phil needs some serious help,” I say. I’m still grinning from his titty remark.

“That’s the main reason why our people can’t rise today,” Jamal says. “I’ll see you in an hour, G. Peace out.” Jamal gives me dap and heads out.

I go back to working on my report without much thought to the conversation. I think that whole situation with LaShawn is bad. It really seems like she experimented with being a lesbian. On the one hand, she tried it out and is now sure that she’s not gay. On the other hand, she had to try it out to be sure.

That reminds me of an incident that happened when I was young. I remember when I was little and Louise would always try and get me to eat black-eyed peas. I hated them. Especially the purple hull. I always thought they looked like alien roaches. I’d never eaten them because they looked so nasty. So, one day she says to me, “How do you know you don’t like them if you’ve never tried them?” I was still arguing my because-they-look-nasty point of view. Then, one day when I was in the kitchen alone, there stood a big pot full of black-eyed peas. I looked around the kitchen to make sure no one was watching and I got a spoon and dipped it in. At first my hand was shaking so bad that the peas rolled off the spoon and back into the pot. I had to dip again. On the second try, the peas were plentiful on the spoon. I closed my eyes and shoved the spoon in my mouth. By the time I finished chewing, I was hooked on black-eyed peas and
have been ever since. Mom would put bacon, salt jowl, and green leaves in hers. They’re perfectly seasoned straight from the pot.

My whole point being, should that same rule apply with people’s sexuality? Where does the curiosity come from? That’s what I don’t understand. I’ve never been even remotely attracted to a brother and it kills me to know that there are some brothers out in the world who can look at me and think,
I bet he’s a good fuck
. And to know there are women who look at me and think nothing sexual about me. See, women excite me in ways unimaginable and there is nothing I like better than to be up in there, if you know what I mean. But when did the rules of life have exceptions?

Okay, I’ve gone too far in my thinking. Let me digress and finish this report so I can go to lunch. I feel real sorry for those who have to deal with skeletons in the closet. Those like LaShawn and Simone.

T
wo weeks left and I will be a married man. Mom and Pops are excited. Pops tried on his tuxedo yesterday and Mom has been bragging ever since about how handsome he looked. They’ve been spending a lot of time together. I think Louise is going to stay here and not go back to Paris. She’s been doing some performances in Dallas, and some of her CDs are on sale at small record stores in the U.S., finally. I picked up two copies the other day at Mr. Blues record store. She had given me copies, but I went to purchase some to support her.

Pops called me this morning. He said he has something very important to talk to me about. I think that’s what it is. I privately hope that’s what the talk will be about. I would love to have Louise back in Dallas and back in our lives.

He’s sitting outside when I drive up. His car is gone, so I assume Louise is out and about. Pops is dressed nice. He has on some black slacks with a brown, orange, and off-white knit sweater. He reminds me of Bill Cosby.

“Hey Pops, you looking good,” I say. I sit next to him on the porch steps.

“Your mama got this for me. I’m sharp, ain’t I?”

“The sharpest man in D-town. So what’s up?”

“I want to talk to you about some decisions I’ve made.”

He’s going to let Mom stay in the house
, I’m thinking. “What kind of decisions?” I ask.

“After you’re married, I’m going back to France with Louise.”

What?!
“Pops, you can’t go back to France. What about me and Shreese? What about the house?”

Pops is looking at me like my response has surprised him. “Greg, you and Shreese are grown. You’re adults. I’ve spent my entire life raising you. Now it’s my turn to live. What did you expect?”

“But in Paris? Pops, you’ve spent your life waiting on Mom. And now, out of nowhere, here she comes and you let her take you away. Why don’t you make her stay here? Why has she come and changed everything?”

“Greg, me and your mama had a dream together, long before you and Shreese were thought of. We were both supposed to go to Paris, and I decided to stay, and honestly, I can’t really say I know why I said no. Even though I said I didn’t want you kids on the road, up all hours of the night and spending time with people you barely knew, I knew from the beginning that raising you two and living our dreams was possible. But fear gripped me when the opportunity came. I caved in, saying I wanted more for you and that you kids needed stability, when I let your stability walk out the door. I’ve never been stable.”

“Pops, you
are
stable—”

“Not in here.” Pops points to his heart. “I am a musician, son, always have been. A man who makes money under the stars in city after city and enjoys doing it, and now I miss it. Louise has a spot for me in her band and I’ve told her yes. Gregory, can’t you understand that?”

I shake my head. “No. I can’t understand having a hypocritical mother or a weak man for a father.”

“Boy, you better watch what you sayin’ and how you say it. I ain’t too old to pop you in your jaw and take you to the yard like a man.” Pops takes a deep breath. “When you and Adrian start your new life together, you won’t have time for me anymore. Shreese is in church all the time, and if she needs anything, I know you will be here for her.”

I sit quiet.

“I’ve made arrangements to keep the house and rent it out—”

“Pops, this is our house! How can you just up and leave it for a total stranger to move into?”

“Greg, memories can never be erased from the mind and heart. Besides, you just bought your first home. What good is this big house going to do me living in it alone?”

“I just don’t think this is right and I can’t support what you’re doing.”

“Well, son, I’m your father and I’m grown. I just wanted you to know, I don’t need your damn support.” Pops gets up and goes inside, slamming the door behind him.

I jump in my car and head over to Jamal’s crib as fast as I can. He’s the only one who can help me understand this bullshit. Maybe all this time, Louise has been planning on coming back and getting my father. Next time I see her, I’m going to tell her exactly what she needs to hear: that she’s a no-good piece of half trash, who never wanted to be a mother.

When I pull up to Jamal’s, I have run the speech to my mother over and over in my mind. Jamal opens the door and lets me in. He’s burning Yellow Rose incense and as I inhale the sweet fragrance, I begin to feel calmer.

“Damn G, what’s wrong with you?”

I sit on the black leather sofa in the den. “Pops just told me that he’s moving to France with Louise.”

“For real? Man, that’s cool.” He takes heed of the frustration showing on my face. “Or maybe it’s not so cool.”

“All this time, she’s been planning this. All those years she’s been calling him long distance, sweet-talking the shit out of him! Now,
all of a sudden, she comes home, gives him some pussy, and he thinks he’s ready to move back to France with her.”

Jamal sits across from me in a matching black leather chair. He sits quietly and looks at the floor.

I’m still venting. “Dallas is his home. He can’t just up and leave. His family is here.”

“Greg, when I was at your parents’ house for New Year’s, I really saw love between the both of them. Man, that’s your soil and water.”

“Jamal, my mother left a long time ago. She gave up that right. Now she’s come back to take Pops like he don’t have shit going on for him here.”

“Greg, you are a grown man. Let your pops have a little fun for a change. Let him live. You want him to sit over in that house and rot while waiting for you to have kids?”

“You don’t understand, Jamal.”

“What I understand, brother, besides the fact that it’s really not your decision to make, is that this is none of your business, and when two people love like your parents love, then there’s nothing you can do.”

“She doesn’t love him.”

“How do you know?”

“Man, Louise is a user. She uses people, then walks away. She used us to make Pops stay in Dallas, and now she’s using her money to take him with her.”

“Do you think your dad is that naive, man?”

“I know Louise can’t do no wrong in his eyes.”

“That’s his wife, brother.”

“J, my pops didn’t start doing all this crazy shit till she came back. He was fine until she came.”

“Last week you were loving your old lady to death. She is your mother and if your pops and your mother can still be in love after that long a separation—in love like two rabbits in spring—then I say it’s all good.”

“Then why can’t she stay here? All of her family is here.”

“Bro, what your parents are doing is about the heart and making
a living doing what they love to do, using wisdom, experience, and natural skills. We all know that a jazz musician can’t make a decent living in this country. Your folks can’t do what they love and pay bills in America.”

“I just don’t want to see them—I mean, him—leave,” I admit.

“Greg, I think you need to think about what you’re saying. You may have a valid point, but the bottom line is that they can do what they want to do. They don’t need your approval, and they damn sure don’t need your disapproval.”

I get up and go to the kitchen to get a drink of water. While I’m there, I call home and check my messages. There’s one message from Tim. He sounds upset, but I can’t deal with him right now. He probably found a scratch on his hundred-and-fifty-dollar loafers. I’ll call him later; right now, I just need to chill.

Jamal goes into his study to finish working on a sketch he’s doing for Pepsi. I lie on his couch and take a nap.

When I wake up, it’s almost nine o’clock. The house is dark, except for the dimmed light where I am and the light on in the study. Jamal is still working on the sketch. I get up to go take a piss.

The doorbell rings and I hear Jamal greet Eric as he opens the door. I bet Jamal called him and told him everything.
See, that’s why you can’t trust niggas with your business!
I think. I wash my hands and come back into the den. I dap Eric. He’s holding a beer.

“Hey, Greg man, what’s going on?”

“Aw, you know, the usual,” I say lazily.

“I came by to see if you guys wanted to hang out a little. You know, get some fresh air.”

I look at Jamal. I know he put Eric up to this. Eric with his no-acting ass sounds like a commercial. “You fools think you’re slick,” I say. “This is one of those things you do when somebody is all down and shit. Y’all ain’t slick, you know.”

“Well then, play along. Your ass running around here like somebody has died isn’t good for the energy in my house.” Jamal grins.

“So, let’s go.” Eric raises up.

I get up and stretch. “Where are we going?”

Eric shrugs. “I don’t know, you have any ideas?”

“Before we go, I want to go see the new house,” Jamal argues. “You promised me last year I would get to see it and I’m still waiting.”

“All right. Come on, I’ll drive,” I say.

We leave out and just as we get to the car, I think about Tim again. With the way he was sounding, I may need to go pick him up, too.

“Damn,” I say as I unlock the door.

“What is it? You forget something?” Jamal asks.

“I meant to call Tim. Forget it, I’ll call him from the bar.”

We pile into my ride and head over to the new house in Winnetka Heights. Hanging with the fellas feels good and it clears my thinking. I’ve thought a lot about what Pops was saying, but I still don’t like how this has been done. I feel like Louise crept into our lives and now is creeping out with valuable goods. When we get to the house, Shreese’s car is out front, but the house appears dark inside. I take the guys around to the back and open the sliding patio door.

“You guys wait here, let me make sure Shreese is dressed.” I go to the back and knock on her bedroom door. There’s no answer. I peek inside the room and all of her things are gone. I guess she moved over to Adrian’s place early, and I assume she’s in Adrian’s car, since it’s larger. I guess Adrian is out and about with Louise. I close the door and head back into the living room. Eric and Jamal have come inside.

“Greg, Shreese has been living it up over here,” Eric says.

“Why?”

“Her panties are laying on the kitchen table.” He points.

I go over to the table and pick up the gold and black bikini-cut panties from the table. I smile. These are Adrian’s panties. She’s been in the house naked, I think. I imagine her walking around our new home naked, the same way she did at my place, but I don’t know why she would leave her panties lying around like this. I begin to feel nervous all of a sudden.

“Your sister got it like that?” Jamal asks. “I thought she was …”

“Jamal, chill out man,” I say, annoyed.

The guys follow me down to the washroom and I show them the
lower deck of the house. When we come upstairs, I turn on the lights and show them the living room, den, and front bathroom. Adrian has nicely decorated the place and each room has a theme. As we walk down the hall, Jamal and Eric are voicing their impressions of the house. I show them the room where Shreese was staying. Jamal really digs this room because there’s a huge mask from Kenya hanging on the wall. It’s one of the masks Louise bought as a gift. The room is decorated in different shades of brown and cream with a zebra-fur piece laid across the bed. We get through the next bedroom and bathroom quickly. We turn the corner to the master bedroom and I’m immediately alarmed. I hear a voice coming from the other side. Jamal and Eric stop in their tracks also.