Lessons Learned

by Earl Sewell

  “Don’t worry. Asia is working really hard to do something about these visits. If Justine messes up in any way, we can get the court to overturn this decision.”

  “It’s okay Dad, I can handle myself. Remember, I’ve lived with Justine all of my life so I know how to deal with her. I’ll just be glad when I turn eighteen so that I can start making some of my own decisions and choices,” I said.

  “Well, you’ll turn eighteen soon enough,” Jordan said as he walked into the family room and opened up the plantation shutters to let some sunlight come in. “Barbara and I are going to head over to the McCormick Place Convention Center and hang around at the auto show while you’re visiting. By late afternoon, we’ll be back to pick you up. Okay?”

  “Okay,” I said. “Is Mike going with you guys?” I asked.

  “No. Mike went to his friend Marlon’s birthday party yesterday, remember?” said Jordan.

  “Oh, yeah. That’s right, I forgot all about that. But I’m still surprised that he doesn’t want to go to the auto show.” I said.

  “I know one thing. Mike is starting to hang out a little too much. I’m giving him a little slack but if his grades have fallen off in any way, he’s going to have to deal with me.” Jordan walked back into the kitchen. “That goes for you, too,” he said.

  “Trust me when I say that my grades are doing a lot better than they have been for a long time,” I said as I moved toward the door to put on my gym shoes.

  About forty minutes later I was knocking on Justine’s apartment door. When she opened up, she had Flip in one arm while she held a cigarette between the fingers of her other hand.

  “Here. Take him,” she said as he handed him to me.

  “He’s all wet,” I said as I took him in my arms.

  “Change him for me,” she said as she walked toward the bathroom.

  I lowered my eyes to slits because the last thing I wanted to do was change a dirty diaper. “I don’t know how to change a baby,” I said.

  “Figure it out then,” she said as she slammed the bathroom door shut.

  “Ooh, you make me sick!” I snapped at her.

  “You make me sick, too,” she shouted back through the closed door.

  I laid Flip down on the sofa and reached into the diaper bag that was nearby. I pulled out some baby wipes, a clean diaper and began changing him. By the time I was done. Justine was exiting the bathroom.

  “So, did you get that information for me?” she asked.

  I cut my eyes at her.

  “Well?” she continued.

  “Yeah. I got something for you,” I said. I was about to start trying to talk her out of making another dumb mistake but then Simon arrived.

  “Hey. I just saw Jordan pull off not too long ago. Did Keysha get what we needed?” he asked.

  “How could you do this to your own cousin?” I snapped at him.

  “It’s better that I do it than a total stranger, don’t you think?” It was like he had no sense of right or wrong.

  “But this is so mean,” I said.

  “Well, we couldn’t pull this off without your help. So you must be just as mean as we are,” he said as he walked over to the sofa to pick up his son, played with him for a moment and then sat him back down like a toy he’d gotten bored with. I looked at them both suspiciously. They were up to something much bigger than what I thought. Simon walked over and invaded my space. He was much too close to me.

  “How old are you now, Keysha?” asked Simon.

  “Seventeen,” I said as I backed away. Simon kept moving forward until my back was up against the refrigerator. Simon looked at my lips and then down at the swell of my breasts. He was molesting me with his eyes.

  “You certainly are a feisty little girl,” he began breathing heavily.

  “Leave her alone, Simon,” Justine tried to intervene but Simon didn’t listen to her. Simon placed both of his hands against the refrigerator and blocked me in.

  “It’s going to take a man like me to break you down. We could both make some good money if you’d get out there on foot patrol for me.”

  I couldn’t believe he’d just said that to me. He actually thought that I was going to turn to a life of prostitution for him. I thought for sure Justine would say something, but she didn’t. She didn’t try to protect me or pull him from in front of my face.

  “Get away from me,” I said looking him directly in the eyes. I wanted to let him know that I wasn’t afraid of him.

  “Yeah. I’m going to have a real good time breaking you down,” he said as he slammed his fist against the refrigerator. The loud noise startled me.

  “Justine, I’ll be outside waiting for you in the car. Don’t be too long. You know that we’re on a tight schedule,” said Simon. He looked at me and smiled like an evil and sinister lunatic.

  “Give me the information,” Justine said.

  I cut my eyes at her and handed her the bogus information.

  Justine smiled and said, “We’ll be right back.”

  “How could you let him say those things to me?” I demanded.

  “Girl, he was just playing around with you. Stop being so sensitive,” she said as she grabbed her large red pocketbook off the table. “Now we’ll be back in a little while.”

  “Are you sure you’re coming back?” I asked thinking that Justine was about to pull a move and leave me stuck with my baby stepbrother. It wouldn’t have been the first time that she’d disappeared on me.

  “Don’t worry. I am coming back, Keysha. Simon and I have to make a quick run, that’s all. Watch Flip for me, okay?”

  “So, what now, I’m your built-in babysistter? I don’t want to watch him,” I snapped at her. I was enraged by her choosing Simon over me.

  “Keysha, I promise we will not be long. We’ll be back in less than an hour,” she said but I didn’t believe a single word passing through her lying lips.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “To handle some business real quick. Just do what I said and everything will be fine. I’m tired of you always questioning me! If you keep on prying into my business I’m going to pop you on the mouth!” Justine viciously yelled at me and then gave me an evil look just before she rushed out the door.

  “She’s driving me crazy!” I growled out. I went over and sat down on the sofa and placed my face in my hands. “This is so stupid. Everything about this jacked-up situation is stupid.” I pulled out my cell phone and gave Wesley a call.

  “Hey, Wesley,” I said when answered the phone.

  “Hey, Keysha.”

  Wesley didn’t sound like himself. I could tell that something was wrong. “Are you okay? You don’t sound too good,” I said.

  “Keysha, some stuff has happened,” Wesley said.

  “Stuff? What stuff? What are you talking about? What’s all of that noise in the background? It sounds like police sirens,” I said.

  “Keysha, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you back. I’ve got to go handle something,” he said.

  “Handle something. What are you talking about? Are you in trouble, Wesley? Hello—Hello? I can’t believe he hung up on me,” I said aloud as I tried to call him right back but I didn’t get an answer. “What the hell!” I said as I tried to dial him once again. I still got no answer. I paced the floor and tried to call Wesley back for at least thirty minutes but he wouldn’t answer his phone.

  “What is going on? Has the world and everyone in it suddenly gone crazy?” I wondered.

  Just as I was about to call Wesley yet again, Justine burst into the apartment with a crazed look in her eyes.

  “Come on, Keysha, let’s go,” she said as she rushed over to Flip and quickly scooped him up. Just as she leaned forward the large purse she was carrying opened up and I noticed that there were bundles of paper wrapped money in it. While Justine wrestled with Flip some of the stacks spilled and fell to the floor. “Come on, girl, and get the molasses out of your ass. Pick up that money and let’s go! Simon is outside w
aiting in a car!”

  “What’s going on?” I was confused and almost in hysterics.

  “What does it look like, girl? We’re getting the hell out of Dodge!” she said.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you and that pervert!” I screamed at her.

  “Keysha, I don’t have time for this. Now we’re going to take this money and that account information and get the hell out of town so that we can start over. Come on now. I told you there was a big payday in all of this for you. Here’s your chance to score big.”

  “What did you do? Rob a bank?” I asked, fearful of the answer I’d get. Justine picked up the stacks of money and headed toward the door but I quickly beat her to the door and stood in her path.

  “Move, Keysha!” she barked at me.

  “No. Now answer me. Did you rob a bank?” I asked more forcefully.

  “No. The Currency Exchange is a few blocks over. It’s the one next to the liquor store and the First Baptist Church,” she said and walked around me and out into the hallway.

  “Mom. Stop! Think about what you’re doing. You don’t have to do this. You have a choice. Take the money back. Simon is no good for you and you know this. Once your money runs out, he’s going to put you on a street corner and you know it!” Justine paused in thought for a moment and I tried to grab her pocketbook but she wrestled it away from me.

  “This is my half of the money and I’m not going to let you or anyone else take it,” she yelled at me and started speed walking down the hall toward the exit.

  I followed her, pleading. “Please. Mom, don’t do this.” I was hoping to talk some sense into her. The moment we stepped outside of the building, we paused momentarily and listened to the wail of police sirens drawing near.

  “Come on! We’ve got to go. The police are coming!” Simon yelled out the car window. “Why are you two playing around? If you don’t get in this car I’m pulling the hell off. I’m not going back to jail!”

  “She’s not going with you, Simon!” I shouted at him like a deranged woman who’d lost her mind.

  “Yes, I am,” Justine walked down the steps with the baby in one arm and the oversize bag lodged between her arm and torso. I tried to snatch the bag from her again but couldn’t get it.

  “Justine, stop. I’m trying to save you from yourself!” I tried talking a little more calmly hoping she would reconsider what she was doing.

  “Keysha, look, it’s not going to matter when we steal Jordan and Barbara’s identity and drain their bank accounts. Their money is insured by the bank. They’ll get it back. Why are you being so hardheaded about this?”

  I glared at my mother for a long moment. My hate and contempt for her had surfaced and I no longer wanted to save her as much as I wanted to save Jordan and Barbara from her and Simon’s treachery. “The account information is bogus, Mom. I made up the information. I was hoping to talk you out of doing this.”

  “What? You lied to me? You didn’t get it? How could you do this to me? Do you know what I went through to get this money? This money and that account information were going to be used to help us start over, Keysha! How could you betray me like this? You’re supposed be on my side!”

  Simon began horn honking again. “I’m not about to listen to you two fight about this. I’m pulling off!” Simon said as he jerked the car into gear. When Justine ducked inside of the car I lunged for her purse and tried once again to wrestle it from her. During our struggle several stacks of the paper-wrapped money fell to the ground. After Justine took a swing at me she secured her purse and told Simon, “Let’s get the hell out of here!” Simon pressed the gas pedal so hard that the tires squealed as the car pulled off. I picked up the stacks of money and rushed back inside the building trying to figure out what to do next. A few moments later a parade of squad cars zoomed down the block at a high rate of speed. I knew that it wouldn’t be long before Justine and Simon were caught.

  I rushed back inside the apartment, dropped the bundles of money on the floor and sat on the sofa. I wanted to cry but I was too angry to shed any tears.

  “Why did you try to grab the bag, Keysha?” I asked myself over and over again. At that moment I decided to call Jordan but I couldn’t get through to him. His phone went directly to voice mail. I then decided that the best thing to do was to walk up to the Currency Exchange and return the money. My biggest desire was to remain with Jordan, Barbara and Mike. The last thing I wanted was to jeopardize my ability to remain in the house with them by being accused of helping Justine and Simon pull off a robbery. I prayed that the police would believe my story. I picked up the money and placed it all inside of my bag which was just big enough to hold it all. I figured that by the time I walked up there, the police would have cornered and arrested both Justine and Simon for their crime. As I prepared to leave. I pressed the Redial button and tried to reach Jordan again.

  sixteen

  MIKE

  Saturday, March 1st

  I was hoping that the urge to go to the bathroom would go away because I wanted to sleep a little longer. I ignored the need to go for as long as I could and then finally had to get up and answer nature’s call. Once I was done in the bathroom, I walked down to Keysha’s room to see if she was in there. I wanted to tell her about the wild time I’d had the night before. I pushed open her door, took one look at her orderly room and knew that she wasn’t in there. I don’t know how she manages to keep her room as clean as she does but she certainly does a better job of it than I do. I need to get with her program so that my mom doesn’t have to come in to clean my room and run across my stash of condoms. I went back into my room and sat at my messy desk, which was filled with magazines and assignments from school. I booted up my computer. As I waited, I began to think about the party I’d gone to last night. I told my parents that I was going to Marlon’s birthday party but I actually went to a juke jam at a place called 5th City in Chicago. I knew that my parents would never let me go to a place like that filled with unsupervised teenagers from all over the city. Oh, no, that just would not have happened if I’d told them where I was really going.

  While I was there, I hooked up with Sabrina who’d also told a lie to her parents in order to go. She’d once again hooked up with Katina and had Katina’s older sister drive her over and drop her off. I’d decided to let Sabrina off the hook a little to see if she’d learned her lesson which was that she shouldn’t get me all worked up and then fake me out. Besides, I changed my thinking a little bit. I figured that having two girls is better than just having one. I could have a girl in the suburbs and a girl in the city. I knew the likelihood of Toya and Sabrina ever meeting each other was slim to none.

  My computer finally came up so I typed in my password. I then stretched my arms up high above my head, yawned and folded my arms across my chest. Last night, I had to admit, was one of the wildest times I’d ever had. Once I was out of the house, I’d hooked up with Marlon and Romeo who were both eagerly anticipating a great night of dancing and meeting girls. Although both Marlon and Romeo had girlfriends, their ladies wouldn’t be with us tonight.

  “I can’t believe you told Sabrina about this party,” Romeo said who was sitting in the back seat of Marlon’s Navigator. “Dude, you’re bringing sand to the beach.” Both Romeo and Marlon laughed.

  “Hey, she might not even show up. She has to jump through a lot of hoops just to get out of the house,” I said.

  “Whatever, man. That girl is going to show up,” Marlon said as he got onto the entrance ramp for the highway. “You need to get a better understanding with her so that she doesn’t begin to think that every time you go somewhere she is supposed to come with you.”

  “It’s not even like that. This will be the first time that Sabrina and I have hooked up in weeks.” I’d gotten a little defensive.

  “Dude, she’s a manager for the track team just so that she can watch you run. Admit it. She’s a fatal attraction,” said Marlon.

  “Maybe she is and maybe she isn
’t. I don’t know,” I said.

  “Why do you want to hook up with her at a party like this where there’s going to be honeys all over the place shaking their behinds and doing all kinds of freaky stuff on the dance floor? You’ll probably get at least fifteen to twenty phone numbers tonight.”

  “What? You guys think Sabrina is the only girl I’ve got in the stable?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” they both said at the same time and then laughed.

  “Well, that’s where you guys are wrong! Just dead wrong.”

  “Well, do tell, because inquiring minds want to know,” said Marlon pressing the accelerator and causing the big Navigator to zoom down the highway at a faster pace.

  “I’ve got a girl on the south side of the city. Her name is Toya,” I said.

  “Mike, quit lying,” said Romeo.

  “Dude, I’m telling you the truth,” I said.

  “How old is she?” asked Marlon.

  “Seventeen,” I said.

  “Boy, please. You cannot pull a seventeen-year-old girl!” said Marlon.

  “Well, I’m telling you differently. Last time I saw her was about two weeks ago,” I said.

  “What street does she live on?” asked Romeo.

  “Right off of King Drive,” I said.

  “How did you get way down there from the suburbs?” Marlon asked.

  “Public transportation,” I said.

  “Oh, no. Old girl isn’t going to be kicking with you for too long. She’s just playing with you right now until some dude with a ride comes along.”

  “No, she isn’t, man. I’m telling you. She doesn’t mind catching the bus, plus she’s setting it out,” I bragged.

  “What?” Romeo perked up. “How far have you gotten with her?” he asked.

  “I almost hit a homerun but her grandmother came home.”

  “Yeah, right,” Marlon said as he chuckled.

  “I’m serious, man. I’ve never kissed lips as soft as hers or felt a behind as soft as hers. I’m telling you guys. It was like touching floating clouds.”

  “What does she look like?” asked Romeo.