The Bed You Make: An Urban Hood Drama

by Tamicka Higgins

  Greetings from his family members came from every direction when John walked in the door. After putting the pop down in the kitchen, he took time to talk to his cousins and aunts and uncles. He was genuinely surprised to see that some of his cousins from Birmingham had come up for the event, as they usually didn’t drive all the way up to Cincy unless it was for a serious holiday, like Christmas or Thanksgiving.

  “Where’s that nigga Ray at?” John asked his cousin. “I know that nigga’s here ‘cause I saw that bright red truck he got parked down the block when I was comin’ in the door.”

  When John found out that his cousin was chilling with an uncle out in the backyard, he made a bee-line straight for the back door. Just as he’d been passing through the kitchen, his mother Charla, who had been standing over the stove as she tended to a pot of greens, stopped John. “John, you know I been wonderin’ about the situation with Sparkle,” Charla said.

  Charla backed away from the stove. She smiled like the mother who felt she was out of the loop. “So, what’s the deal with that, John?” she asked. “I mean, when am I going to get to spend a little time with my grandson?”

  John groaned, stopping and turning toward his mother. He’d just known she was going to bring up Isaac. Like any grandmother, she loved her little grandson more than anybody in the world. In fact, anytime they did actually get the chance to spend a little time together, Charla would take so many pictures that people actually thought she might start an Instagram and literally dedicate it to showing the world just how precious her little grandson Isaac could be.

  “Well, Mama,” John said, thinking about the situation in its totality. Sure, he and Sparkle had been getting along. But her nasty attitude would show its head every so often, reminding John of all the reasons a relationship between the two just couldn’t work out. Since he’d smashed her down in the bedroom she’d been nicer. However, this “nicer” demeanor could very well come with a price—a price John didn’t want to pay and was totally unware that he’d be paying sooner than he thought. Very soon, indeed. “You know I been tellin’ you how it is. I mean, come on.”

  “What you mean you been tellin’ me how it is?” Charla asked. “Are you talkin’ about how that mother of his acts?” She rolled her eyes and walked over to the cabinet to look for hot sauce to put out on the table when it came time to eat. “I don’t know why you were ever even messing around with that girl, John. I swear. Some of you young black man out here nowadays are just getting the wrong chicks pregnant and I don’t even know what to think no more. I swear I don’t.” She shook her head. “You know how I feel about that girl.”

  John groaned under his breath, trying to keep it as quiet as possible so his mother wouldn’t hear him. “I know, Mama,” he said. “I know.”

  Listening to his mother make comments about Sparkle wasn’t necessarily unusual. While John never really brought Sparkle around his family too much, they’d all met her back before Isaac was born. And they all took their sweet liberties when it came to forming an impression of her. Charla, as to be expected, was the most vocal when it came to her thoughts of Sparkle. To start with, Charla questioned the chick right away because her name was Sparkle.

  “Yeah, she still stayin’ there,” John said. “I mean, it’s coo. It’s nice to be able to see Isaac all the time, for a while. But, Mama, that chick is crazy.”

  “Yeah, well,” Charla said. “You got her pregnant. I told you somethin’ wasn’t right about her. We all was talkin’ about if you was gon’ bring her or not before you came walkin’ through the door.”

  “We all?” John asked, looking into the dining room at his family sitting around the table and talking as if they hadn’t seen one another in months. John knew his mother and knew that she wasn’t the type to spread someone else’s business. In fact, when it came to John, because Charla was rather quiet about how he made money, she simply didn’t bring up topics that might cause other kinds of questions to spring into the air.

  “Yeah,” Charla said, nodding her head. “Your cousin Ray was letting everybody know that Sparkle was staying with you. He was sayin’ somethin’ about how y’all was talkin’ on Facebook or whatever the other night and you was tellin’ him about it. That’s why I wanna know what that Sparkle is up to. John, I know you prolly don’t wanna hear this, but I’m your mother and it’s my job to tell you anyway. I really feel like that Sparkle chick is up to somethin’. I feel like she prolly try’na use you or somethin’.”

  “Naw, Mama,” John said, shaking his head as he thought about his cousin Ray. “I mean, I’m helpin’ her out ‘cause she got into it real bad with her mama.”

  “I know, John,” Charla said. “That’s what you told me. I wonder how that happened. Maybe her mama got tired of her fat-butt self sittin’ around and wantin’ to live for free and shit. I used to know them kinda girls. Wanna get pregnant by a certain guy so they can try to get somethin’ out of them. She don’t play that game where she keeps Isaac away from you because she mad at you or somethin’ like that, do she?” Charla shook her head. “I hate when these young girls play that game because they don’t realize that they’re hurting the child. Please tell me she ain’t doin’ that.”

  Thankfully for John, Sparkle wasn’t that kind of chick. She prided herself in at least trying to be a good mother that she refused to go that low. Even when the two of them got on one another’s very last nerves with curse words and insults spewing, they still managed to coordinate for John to come and see Isaac. John assured his mother that everything on that end was going fine, as well as promised her that he’d bring Isaac over as soon as possible. Because he’d forgotten about the event, he’d simply said bye to Isaac and rushed out of the door.

  Just as John was continuing on his mission to talk to his cousin Ray out in the backyard, Ray came bursting through the back door. The five-foot-eight, curly-haired, 25-year-old smiled and hugged his cousin. John couldn’t help but snicker under his breath. Ray’s eyes were a bit red and he was just a bit too happy.

  “Nigga, I was just about to come outside and chill with you,” John said.

  Ray got himself a glass of water then he and John went back out to the backyard. Because Charla lived in a more-wooded part of the city, even though the area was urbanized, her property was kind of big with the backyard fading into a dimly wooded area. She’d done her backyard up nicely to entertain company, and there were various flower gardens and patios spread about the backyard.

  “Nigga, why you runnin’ your mouth about Sparkle?” John asked. He quickly spoke to a couple of his older uncles, who’d been sitting on the patio and enjoying a beer, then sat down across from Ray.

  “John, man,” Ray said, his voice a bit high. “You know I wasn’t runnin’ my mouth. You know how the family is. You know how they wanna ask you what you’re doing and all that and, well, Sparkle came up.”

  “Mmhmm,” John said, nodding his head. “So, anyway, nigga… What the fuck you been up to?”

  John listened as Ray shared the usual crazy stories about his life. Ray had always been the adventurous cousin. John laughed as he listened to Ray’s stories about quitting a job to go on a road-trip to New York City with some friends. He laughed out loud when Ray talked about going on another trip and the friend’s car breaking down at a gas station in a hood in Indianapolis just as a big gang fight was going down in the parking lot.

  “Nigga, you stay in the shit, don’t you?” John said, shaking his head.

  The two cousins talked for several minutes more, basically finishing up the conversation they’d started on Facebook. Just as John was about to go into the story about what went down with Imani, knowing that his cousin Ray would eat the drama up, one of his female cousins—Rhyne—stuck her head out of the back door. “John!” she yelled. “You got company!”

  “Company?” John asked.

  Quickly, John jumped up from the table. Ray was close behind, following his cousin inside. When John first stepped into the kitchen, h
e noticed something he just didn’t expect to see: his mother leaning over and smiling in Isaac’s face. While John certainly didn’t have a problem with his son being there, he knew that his presence meant one thing: Sparkle was there.

  “Hey, wassup, man?” John asked, looking at Isaac with a strange expression.

  Charla dropped everything she was doing and sat down at the table with Isaac. John headed toward the dining room. He cringed when he heard Sparkle’s voice, as the entire family had jumped up from the table to speak with her. John’s female cousins sat on the other side of the room, spread about on a sectional. They looked at Sparkle with contempt. Because she was the mother of their cousin, neither of them would ever disrespect her or cause any kind of problem. They just didn’t want to be seen as that kind of family. Still, they didn’t trust the bitch and they weren’t the least-bit interested in trying to do so. John looked into their eyes, knowing that each and every one of them saw right through Sparkle and saw her for what she really was.

  Sparkle finished hugging John’s great-aunt and looked up. She’d changed her clothes since John had seen her at home when he was leaving. She was dressed in ripped blue jeans that obviously showed off the size of her ass. Her heels were so tall they made the short woman look not only taller, but bigger and more shapely. The low-cut shirt she had on left her chest practically hanging out. When Sparkle went to quickly hug one of John’s cousin’s husband, her chest practically boinked the guy in the face. And she acted not only as if she had no idea how she was coming across, but also as if the guy’s wife—John’s cousin—wasn’t sitting nearby. John noticed the way his other female cousins clenched that cousin’s arm as the hug took place.

  “Oh, hey, John,” Sparkle said. “I’m just sayin’ hello to the family. It’s been so long since I’ve seen some of these guys. You know I ask about them all the time and you never say much. John, we all have so much catching up to do.”

  John stood on the other side of the table and bit his lip as he watched Sparkle chitchat with his family as if she were invited and welcomed. He would have given anything in the world for Sparkle to just have dropped Isaac over and never have shown her face. Not only was she dressed proactively, as usual and as to be expected, but she also moved about the room with a purposeful arch in her back. When Charla stepped up to the doorway, she stood at John’s shoulder for a moment and whispered, keeping the plainest face, “I told you that girl is piece of work.” She forced a smile. “John, son, you didn’t tell your mama that you invited Miss Sparkle.”

  John groaned and looked down at his mother. “I didn’t,” he said. “I ain’t invite this chick.”

  Charla looked Sparkle up and down. “I know you didn’t,” she said, turning around and rolling her eyes. “My God, I wonder if the satellite up in space or Google Earth or whatever that stuff is called can zoom in and see her chest. She might as well not even be wearing a shirt with that much chest hanging out.”

  John sighed; he really didn’t want Sparkle there. He knew his family would forever scold him if he stood there and openly said in front of everyone that Sparkle wasn’t welcome. The older generation was particularly sensitive to that kind of thing because they were so conscious about the black family and the impact of not only good parenting, but also the ability of the parents to actually work together and act right.

  Once things calmed down a bit and food was being shoveled into mouths, John saw his chance to talk to Sparkle and find out why the hell she’d come. When she’d said she was going out to the car to get something for Isaac, John made sure to follow her out the door. Sparkle was leaning over into the backseat of her car when she felt John’s shadow reach over her.

  “Sparkle, what’re you doing?” John asked.

  “What you mean what am I doing?” Sparkle asked. She walked around to the other side of the car, making sure to walk in a way that would give John a very good view of her ass. “I’m getting’ somethin’ out of the car for Isaac. You heard me talkin’ to your mother.”

  “Sparkle, don’t play dumb with me,” John said. “You know exactly what I mean. What the fuck is you doin’ here?”

  “Well,” Sparkle said, “me and Isaac was sittin’ back at your apartment, not really knowin’ what we could do. So, I thought it would be cool with you and that you wouldn’t have no problem with me bringin’ Isaac to see some of his family. You was always talkin’ about how you wanted him to see your family more, so I figured I’d bring him so he could spend some time with y’all and catch up with everybody. You shoulda seen the way your family jumped up when he came walkin’ in the door. John, they was so excited to see him. It was so nice.”

  John looked Sparkle up and down, knowing that she was avoiding the real question. “Sparkle, I ain’t got no problem with my little boy bein’ here,” he said. “But why did you come?”

  Sparkle stopped what she was doing and looked at John. “Huh?” she asked. “How I’mma bring my son to his family function and not come in and talk to the family too?”

  “Sparkle, this ain’t your family,” John said. “This ain’t your family and there ain’t no reason for you to be here. If you wanted Isaac to come, you coulda just dropped him off and kept on goin’ with whatever the fuck you be doin’.”

  Sparkle rolled her eyes. “Well,” she said, confidently, “if his daddy woulda brought him like he should have, then I wouldn’t have even had to come to this. Plus, your family love me. I could tell when I walked in the door. Everybody is so pleasant. I miss talkin’ to these people from time to time.”

  John walked around to the other side of the car. He knew it was time to let Sparkle know that she’d simply gone too far. She was really talking as if she belonged here and John just wasn’t cool with that. “Sparkle, I’m fuckin’ serious,” he said. “Don’t be comin’ around my family like you welcome and stuff. Cause you not.”

  Sparkle scuffed and looked John up and down. “Oh, yeah?” she asked. “Then why the fuck did you dick me down the other day in your bed if I ain’t welcome and you don’t want me comin’ around. Huh? You fucked me, but I’m just supposed to sit there and wait for you to get back and shit.”

  “Naw, Sparkle,” John said. “I ain’t sayin’ that you gotta sit and wait, but damn, you supposed to be lookin’ for a job and stuff so you can get your own place. And I only fucked you ‘cause you know we fuck good and you love the dick. Don’t even play.”

  Sparkle smiled and looked down at John’s crotch. “So?” she said, shrugging her shoulders and playing as if what he said was irrelevant. “Nigga, you know you love this pussy. Don’t even play. Shit, I was doin’ you a favor if you really wanna know the truth. I saw the way you be lookin’ at my body when I’m walkin’ around the apartment and shit. You know you miss this ass and pussy. I don’t even know why you try’na hide it.” She giggled. “Shit, this pussy might even be the reason you was cool with me and Isaac comin’ to stay with you. So, nigga, don’t even try to act brand new with me ‘cause you know I already know you and everything.” Sparkle grabbed her bag out of the backseat, as it’d been buried under some coats and jackets. “Now, I know your family is prolly in there wonderin’ what is takin’ me so long to get back in there.” She smiled.

  John groaned as Sparkle walked away and headed back into the family function. “We not together, Sparkle,” he said in a stern voice. “We not together.”

  Sparkle simply looked back and smiled as she walked into the house and jumped back into the conversation.

  ***

  Camron was chilling at his place, trying to figure out what to do with his night. At first, he’d thought about going to this strip club where all of the chicks were black and a little heavy with superb shapes—just his type. Then he remembered he’d been needing to save his money and that there were some people trying to buy some of the weight he’d just gotten. He sent some texts out as well as responded to one from last night where this dude in the hood had been pretty adamant about coming over today and getting
some. To say the least, Camron found it strange that this guy was so upfront about wanting to come and get some smoke when he wasn’t a constant smoker.

  “Man, I’m outside the door,” the guy, Jay, said when he finally showed up.

  Camron spent a minute getting himself together then headed toward the door. He looked out first, only seeing Jay standing out on the porch. He opened the door with a smile, ready to greet the guy. Within a matter of seconds, Race and one his boys had rushed into the house. The two of them were armed with guns and they both had them pointed at Camron’s head.

  “Okay, okay, okay,” Camron said, backing up quickly. He held his hands up as his eyes bulged. “Okay!”

  “Shut the fuck up, nigga!” Race said, walking ahead of the other guy.

  Jay, who stood at the door in shock, shook his head. “I’m sorry, man,” he said. “This nigga said he was gon’ hurt my family if I ain’t do this. I’m sorry, man. For real, for real. I ain’t wanna do this and I would never do it.”

  Race’s boy, Drew, rushed ahead to hold Camron in his place as Race turned around. Race approached Jay and slapped the guy so hard across the face that his head banged into the doorframe. “Shut the fuck up with that bitch-ass shit, nigga,” he told him. “Get the fuck on somewhere. Ain’t nobody try’na hear that shit. Get the fuck on!”

  Jay grabbed his throbbing head and rushed off the porch and out across the front yard. Race then turned back to Camron and said, “Wassup, nigga? Remember me?”

  Camron looked on in fear as Race walked further into the living room, slamming the door shut behind him. Camron’s eyes veered toward the other guy, wondering where he’d come from and if he even knew him. “What the fuck you want?”

  “Nigga, don’t think that I forgot your face and shit,” Race said. “And don’t even try’ta start that shit about you ain’t know who I was or it wasn’t you. Nigga, I looked into your eyes that night when you came shootin’ at a nigga and try’na take his life and shit.”