by Paul Langan
“Don’t you get it, cuz? I can’t sit through Dad rippin’ me. Not again,” Savon said. He looked defeated. The fearless stage performer was now suddenly human, a boy fearing the wrath of his father. “I can’t do it. ”
Hakeem stood next to him. “Savon, you’re not in this alone. I got your back. We’ll talk to them together as a family. I’m serious. C’mon,” he urged.
Savon looked at him, took a deep breath, and then stared at the front door.
“You go first,” he said.
Chapter 10
“There they are!” Aunt Lorraine cried, as Hakeem and Savon walked in the door. “We were worried sick about you. ”
“Are you okay?” Mom asked, rushing over to Hakeem.
“We’re fine,” Hakeem said, gently shrugging away from her.
Uncle James tore into the room and glared at his son. “Bein’ a screw-up wasn’t enough? Now you gonna drag your cousin into your mess too?”
“But Dad—”
“Shut your mouth, boy,” Uncle James yelled. “I told you last time that I wasn’t playin’, and you pushed me. You wanna ignore my rules, then you can get outta my house. Maybe then you’ll learn something. You best start packin’,” he commanded.
Hakeem watched in anger as Savon’s fears became true.
“Easy, James,” Dad said.
“I’m sorry, but this doesn’t concern you. This is between me and my son. ”
Dad took a step back. The air in the small living room suddenly grew charged like the instant before a lightning strike.
“You see, Hakeem,” Savon said, tears in his eyes as he walked toward the stairs. “He don’t listen to me. ”
“Wait, Savon,” Hakeem urged, the silence he held for so many months beginning to crack. Everyone in the room turned to him.
“Hakeem, you don’t have to cover for him,” Mom said, looking at the bruise Hakeem still had on his face from his fight with Savon.
“I’m not covering for him!” Hakeem said, struggling to contain the fury in his chest. “All of you listen to me. You got us all wrong. Savon practically saved my life tonight. ”
“What?” Uncle James asked. Mom turned in surprise.
“What are you sayin’, Hakeem?” Dad said.
“All of you been acting like Savon’s a criminal, and I’m this p-p-perfect person. That’s not fair and it’s not true!” Hakeem yelled, his hands shaking with emotion.
Everyone gaped as Hakeem recounted the entire week, including his early fears about Savon, the details he hid from his father, and the dramatic events he experienced at the club. All the adults except James reacted in surprise, especially when Hakeem told them about Savon’s performance and the incident in the bathroom.
Hakeem even mentioned the conversation he and Savon had outside and how much Savon doubted Uncle James would listen to him.
“I didn’t tell you the whole truth this week because I wasn’t sure what it was, but I’m sure now,” Hakeem concluded. “The truth is that Savon isn’t doing anything illegal. And if you saw him tonight, you wouldn’t be disappointed in him, Uncle James. You’d be proud. ”
“Hakeem, I appreciate what you are trying to do here, but I don’t need your advice about how I should raise my son. When you’re a parent, you’ll understand how hard it is to bring up a child and how you gotta make tough decisions. Savon chose to leave the store and disobey me, and he’s got to face the consequences of his actions,” Uncle James said sternly.
“But Uncle James—”
“Enough, Hakeem! Stay out of it,” Uncle James barked.
“Easy, James,” Hakeem’s father warned.
“Why you gotta be like that, Dad?” Savon demanded, glaring at Uncle James. “Hakeem’s tellin’ you the truth, and you still don’t want to listen. ”
“No, you are the one that didn’t listen. I told you the other day this was your last chance. I don’t want to send you out, but you made a choice, and part of being a man is you gotta live with that choice. Go up and pack your bags,” James ordered.
Savon blinked, shook his head, and walked to the stairway. Hakeem felt as if he was watching two massive trains racing into each other, and he was powerless to stop them. His uncle and cousin were completely out of control.
“Everyone just stop!” a voice yelled suddenly. Hakeem turned to see Aunt Lorraine step into the center of the living room. “All y’all are acting like the kids I teach at school, and I can’t stand it no more. I always knew the men in this family were stubborn, but this is ridiculous,” she said, putting her hands on her hips.
Uncle James looked surprised, and Savon stopped in his tracks.
“Nobody’s going anyhere until we figure this out. James, you think Savon’s gonna be any safer if we kick him out now?” she said, quickly turning to Savon. “And do you think sneakin’ out in the dark and leavin’ your father all alone at the store every day is the way to get him to listen to you?”
Savon shrugged. “I didn’t want to leave him all alone, Mom. I told him I could still work in the store part time, but that I needed time for me and the boys. Tariq’s workin’ at the music store, and he got us some gigs at parties this summer. I already saved $300. I told Dad we were makin’ money, but he didn’t want to hear it. All he wants to hear about is the store,” Savon said wearily.
“Savon, that ain’t true,” Uncle James replied. “Yes, I could use your help, but that’s besides the point. I know two families from church who got boys your age in jail. I know another who lost her son ’cause he was shot outside a club by mistake. I’m not gonna let that happen to you. And if I gotta be tough, that’s what I’m gonna do. It ain’t ’cause I don’t care. It’s because I do care. ”
“Yeah, well you sure got a strange way of showing it,” Savon grumbled.
“And so do you,” Aunt Lorraine countered. “You been given us attitude for months now. That hasn’t helped anything. ”
“That’s cause all you do is tell me I should be more like Hakeem. It’s like you want him around more than me or somethin’. The more you do that, the more I feel like just givin’ up, you know, ’cause I’m never gonna be like him, the A student, the perfect son,” Savon replied, his voice a mixture of sadness and resentment.
“There’s no one we love around here more than you, Savon. It’s just we thought you’d listen to Hakeem since you wouldn’t listen to us,” Aunt Lorraine explained. “You two used to be so close. ”
Hakeem winced at the mention of his name. He hated how Savon and his parents threw it around at each other like an insult.
“Can you all just leave me out of this?” Hakeem cut in, unable to hide his own resentment. “I’m not perfect. Ever since I got here, all of you have thrown me in the middle of your fight, and I been getting nothing but static from all sides,” Hakeem confessed, forcing back the emotions that formed a huge lump in his throat. “All I know is it ain’t easy being out here away from home. But you all keep saying I got my act together. I don’t know where you get that. Right now, I am just tryin’ to survive out here, that’s all. The more you all say I am perfect, the more I want to go home to the people that know me ’cause none of them would treat me like this. ”
Hakeem’s parents looked surprised at his words. They glanced over at Aunt Lorraine and Uncle James, who just shook their heads as if they were stunned. Savon nodded thoughtfully.
“Looks like there’s lots of misunderstanding in this family from all of us,” Dad said, rubbing his eyes. It was past 3:00 a.m.
“Yeah, but there’s lots of love too,” Mom added, and the adults in the room nodded.
Just then Charmaine and Charlene walked into the living room, their eyes squinting against the bright lights.
“Why is everyone up so late?” Charmaine asked.
“We can’t sleep ’cause everyone keeps talking,” protested Charlene.
“Girls, go back to bed. All of us are going to bed now,” Mom said, leading them to their bedroom.
“Amen.
Let’s sleep on this. We got lots to talk about, but we’re not going to solve it all tonight,” Uncle James said.
“Do I still gotta leave?” Savon asked.
“No, son, I don’t want that. I never did. But if you stay, you’re gonna have to make some changes around here,” Uncle James said, looking at Aunt Lorraine, who stared at him. “Maybe I do too, but let’s talk about it tomorrow. ”
Savon sighed as if he had been released from a great burden. “Thanks, pop,” he said, heading upstairs. Hakeem followed him, exhausted by the day’s events.
“Cuz, wake up. You got a phone call. I think it’s important. ”
Hakeem was about to roll over and go back to sleep. But Savon’s voice was sincere. The hostile edge that had been in it all week was gone.
Hakeem sat up, rubbed his eyes, and made his way downstairs.
His parents sat at the table, the looks on their faces grave.
“Hello?”
“Hakeem, it’s me. ” The voice snapped him to attention. It was Tarah, but she sounded more stressed than he’d ever heard her. She was calling from California. “I can’t stay on the phone long, and I got bad news to tell you. Darcy’s grandmother died last night. ”
Hakeem groaned and leaned his head against the wall, his mind flooded with memories of the nice old woman he’d seen each time he visited Darcy. He could almost feel Darcy’s loss across the thousands of miles that separated them. If he hadn’t moved, he’d be with her this very moment.
“Darcy’s in real bad shape,” Tarah continued. “She needs you. ”
“I’ll be there. I’ll figure out a way. ”
“I knew you would, Hakeem,” she said.
After he hung up the phone, he explained the situation to his parents.
“Hakeem, I know it’s important to you, but we don’t have that kind of money right now, and we can’t ask your aunt and uncle. They’ve already done too much. ”
“I got money,” a voice said from behind them. It was Savon. He was standing at the bottom of the steps holding his bundle of cash. Everyone turned to him at once in shock.
“I’ve been savin’ what I make at parties so me and my boys can make a demo CD, but if you can pay me back this summer, you can borrow it. ”
“I’ll work all summer to pay it back if I have to,” Hakeem insisted.
“Are you sure about this, Savon?” Dad asked. “That’s a lot of money. ”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” he insisted. “He stuck his neck out for me. It’s only right that I pay him back. ”
“Thanks, Savon,” Hakeem said, grateful for his cousin and the difficult path that finally reconnected them. “I owe you one. ”
In one week, a lifetime can pass
In one day, families shatter like glass
In one hour, time still moves too fast
In one second, we make choices that
last.
Hakeem wrote the words in a new notebook as his airplane touched down. It was the same airport he’d left days ago. But the person who walked through then was not the same one who passed through now. Hakeem had gone through a fire and been transformed.
As he stepped from the taxi in front of Holy Redeemer Church, Hakeem didn’t know what he would say to Darcy. But he knew that he belonged at her side with his friends.
He spotted Darcy as soon as he entered the church. She was standing before the congregation delivering a powerful tribute to her grandmother, who rested in an open coffin before her. Watching her struggle against tears, Hakeem missed Darcy more than ever.
He noticed Cooper and Tarah nearby, but at the conclusion of the service, he headed straight to Darcy, whose eyes poured tears when she spotted him.
“Hakeem! I can’t believe you’re here!” Darcy exclaimed, throwing her arms around him the way she did when they parted. “How—”
“Tarah called and told me what happened, and I wanted to be here for you, Darcy,” Hakeem explained, feeling himself drawn to the warmth of her face and the hurt in her eyes. She looked older somehow, as if the ten days apart had transformed her as much as they had transformed him. Despite the changes, Hakeem knew one thing was certain: he loved her like no other.
“You look different,” Hakeem said as they left the church together.
“I am different,” Darcy replied, her words passionate and mysterious.
Me too, Darcy, Hakeem thought as he walked hand-in-hand with her back to the neighborhood he had known all his life.
Gazing at the familiar people that had silently gathered around them in support, Hakeem felt a powerful and unrelenting voice stir in his soul.
This is where I belong, the voice said. This is my home.
When Hakeem arrived back in Detroit two days later, a strange package sat on his bed.
“That was in the mailbox for you,” Savon said on his way out. “I’m goin’ to the store to help Dad. While you were gone, we made a deal. I work in the store three days a week. He comes to see me and the boys rap at this block party on July 4th. I still can’t believe he’s gonna show up, but I heard him say it. ”
“Cool!” Hakeem exclaimed. “Maybe I’ll play my guitar too. ”
“Let’s not get crazy, cuz,” Savon said with a playful smirk. “Oh, one other thing. The cops finally busted them thieves the other night. I’m still gonna try and convince Dad to get that rottie. Later,” he said.
Hakeem examined the package. It had no return address. He shook it several times and then tore it open. Inside was his notebook, a bit more tattered than when he’d last seen it. He leafed through the pages and saw that everything was intact. But on the last page, there was a note he’d never seen before.
Dear Hakeem,
By the time you read this, I will be long gone. The state people took Grandma like I told you they would. I just couldn’t go to a foster home, not even for six months. I hope you understand.
Before you got here, I was mixed up in some things with Rasul and his crew. It’s why Savon and I broke up two years ago. Rasul’s been causing trouble for a while now, mostly breaking into stores around the way. I even helped his crew a few times, holding money for them. I know it was stupid, and I’m not proud of what I did, but I’ve been trying to get out of that for a long time. Then you came along, and when Rasul started making plans to hit your uncle’s store, I had to end it.
When I called the police and told them everything, I knew I was making things right, but I got scared too. If he found out who turned him in, Rasul would do everything he could to make me sorry. Another reason to run.
I meant what I said to you the other day. I wish I met you sooner. Don’t forget our kiss. I won’t. Where I am going isn’t far from Bluford High School. If you ever come back, maybe I’ll see you again. My phone number is on the back of the page you wrote about me. Call me sometime.
Love,
Anika
P. S. —Throw away this note.
Hakeem read the letter several times before shredding it into tiny scraps. But by then, all of Anika’s words were etched in his memory, and he had the funny feeling that he might see her again one day.
