Still Candy Shopping

by Swinson, Kiki

  She thanked God that Ben didn’t have permanent brain damage, because she had been told that he had suffered horrible head injuries. She wanted to tell him that she forgave him for bringing the drugs into the house and that they would grieve for baby Keon together.

  She was released from Riker’s Island and when the prison bus crossed the bridge, Ben and Ms. Tori were waiting for Celeste on the other side. She rushed over to her son and grabbed him into a tight embrace. Ben was still a wiry teenager and he wasn’t big on public displays of affection, but he wrapped one of his arms around his mother and returned her hug.

  Celeste and Ben climbed back into Ms. Tori’s car and drove off. Celeste thanked Ben repeatedly for finally telling the truth about what happened. Additionally, Ben said he was sorry repeatedly for disobeying his mother’s wishes and having the drugs in the house. They had one place to go before they headed home.

  *********************************

  “Five – O, five – O!” a boy, the lookout yelled. Everybody on the corner started to scatter. It was too late. There were ten black police vans all over the neighborhood. Every single one of Deezo’s spots was being raided. The jump out boys threw Quan up against the corner store wall and slapped handcuffs on him.

  “I ain’t do nothin’ man!” Quan whined. The cops didn’t have to say anything. They weren’t looking for evidence against him. They already had all that they needed.

  All of Deezo’s workers at all of his spots were rounded up and hauled off in police vans. It was a good day for the narcotics teams in Brooklyn. They had received great insider information from a reliable source. But there was a problem. They had not found Deezo at any of his spots nor was he out in his car monitoring like he usually was. The narcotics detectives tried to get several of the corner boys to tell them where Deezo might be located, but none of the boys would cooperate. It seemed like Deezo had had a heads up before the raids.

  Ms. Tori wheeled her car through the narrow path in the cemetery. Finally, she pulled up on the side of some newly laid graves. Celeste put her hand over her mouth as she stared out the window. Ben put his arm around her shoulder.

  “C’mon ma, you have to go say a proper goodbye to him,” Ben said solemnly. He felt like he needed to do the same thing. He opened the car door and helped his mother out of the car. Slowly, they walked together through the overturned, red earth.

  Celeste looked down and saw a small white cross that read KEON D. EARLY. She turned into Ben’s chest and began sobbing.

  “Shhh,” he tried comforting her. “We have to do this together. He deserves us to come pay our respects,” Ben said, sounding like a wise, mature, older man.

  He moved Celeste from his chest and grabbed hold of her hand. They walked together and stopped at baby Keon’s gravesite. Ben bent down and held his head down. Celeste did the same. She lifted her shaking hand and brushed some dirt off of the little white cross that the cemetery had placed on the grave.

  “I’m so sorry baby. If I was a better mother this would not have happened to you. Please forgive me for everything. Keon, I love you so much,” Celeste said through sobs.

  “Keon, my little nigga, this was all my fault. I will always live with the fact that I was the one that caused your death. I know you are in heaven and I know you will look down on us forever,” Ben said, his voice quivering a little bit.

  They were silent for a few minutes.

  Ben felt a presence behind them. He just assumed it was Ms. Tori. He stood up so that he could tell Ms. Tori a proper thank you for all of the things she had done for him while he was at the group home. When he turned around to face Ms. Tori, his mouth dropped open and all of the color drained from his face. Ben could not move. It was like his feet had planted roots in the dirt.

  “What happened, you ain’t happy to see a nigga?” Deezo said evilly.

  Celeste jumped up when she heard the familiar voice. Her eyes hooded over with ill intent. She despised Deezo.

  “How dare you disrespect the grave of my son when it was your drugs that killed him!” Celeste screeched.

  Deezo started to laugh. It was an evil, shrill, maniacal laugh. “My drugs or this punk ass boy’s stupidity?” Deezo replied. Ben bit down into his jaw.

  “What do you want?” Celeste asked.

  “I want what belongs to me,” Deezo told her.

  “Nothing here belongs to you. We don’t have nothing for you!” Celeste spat.

  “This boy of yours . . . he belongs to me! You ain’t never tell him I’m his daddy?” Deezo said cruelly.

  “Shut up! Get away from us! Leave us alone!” Celeste screamed.

  Ben looked at his mother in disbelief. He couldn’t believe his ears. All the years his mother let him struggle, working hard and all along she knew damn well who his father was.

  “Now, I tried to be nice to him just because he was mine. But see, he ain’t got no loyalty. The one thing I always told you lil nigga was never to cross me,” Deezo said to Ben.

  Ben balled up his fists and he was rocking on his heels. He wanted to kill both Deezo and Celeste for lying to him all these years.

  “He didn’t do anything to you. Get away from us!” Celeste cried out. She grabbed for Ben’s hand to pull him away, but Ben yanked his hand away from her.

  “Now your boy gonna face the consequences,” Deezo said to Ben. “I can’t go back to my house, all of my money done got seized, all my spots shut down . . . all because this boy you got here ran his mouth. I can’t let it get out that no punk muthfucka like you is my son.”

  “Fuck you! I hate you!” Ben finally erupted. He started moving towards Deezo angrily.

  “Naw Shorty, fuck you!” Deezo boomed. He lifted his hand that he had hidden behind his back and leveled a gun at Ben. Ben stopped dead in his tracks.

  “Oh my God! No!” Celeste screamed at the top of her lungs when she saw the gun.

  Ben could see Ms. Tori running from the car towards them. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion to Ben.

  “Snitches don’t deserve to live,” Deezo said with finality.

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  Deezo shot three times.

  Ben’s eyes popped open as he looked down at all of the blood.

  “I’ll see you in hell,” Deezo said, lifting the same gun to his own head and BOOM! He got off one more shot.

  “Ma!” Ben screamed as his mother blocked him with her own body. The shots caused Celeste’s body to lurch forward and she hit the dirt on top of baby Keon’s grave.

  “Ben!” Ms. Tori screamed as she finally reached them. It was too late. Ben was on his knees cradling his mother’s head. Celeste’s blood soaked his hands as she pressed down on her wounds trying to get the bleeding to subside.

  “Help! Help!” Ben screamed so loud and hard the veins in his neck were protruding through his skin. There was nobody around but them.

  Ms. Tori began frantically dialing 911 on her cell phone.

  Celeste looked up into Ben’s face as blood spilled from her lips. She creased her face into a painful smile.

  “Stay with me . . . just stay with me,” Ben begged her as he rocked her.

  Celeste moved her head side to side as she coughed up blood.

  “Ma! Just please stay with me!” he cried.

  “I’m s . . . s . . . sorry Ben. I . . . I . . . didn’t me . . . mean to hur . . . hurt you,” Celeste rasped.

  “I know! I’m sorry too. You’re gonna live, just hold on,” Ben cried. He could hear the wailing of the ambulance and police sirens in the distance now.

  “I will see K . . . Ke . . . Keon in heaven,” Celeste managed to say.

  The ambulance came to a screeching halt on the side of the path near the gravesite. Ben looked out of his tear filled eyes and saw the EMTs running towards him. He shook his head. He knew they were too late. He reached down before they made it to where Celeste lay and closed her eyelids. He placed her head on the bloodied, wet earth right on top of his brother’s grave. The EMTs
finally made it over and started to feel Celeste for a pulse. One EMT held up his hand to signal to the others that she was gone.

  “Oh my God, Ben . . . I am so sorry,” Ms. Tori said, trying to grab Ben for a hug. He shoved her away. He started walking down the hill towards the path they had all parked on. Just as he made it down, the cop cars began pulling up. The uniformed and plain clothes cops came rushing past Ben, but he just kept on walking. He walked and walked with no destination in mind. He needed to clear his head. He had just lost his entire family all because he’d been a sucker for candy.

  Coming Soon

  Cheaper to Keep Her – Dec. 14th 2010

  Green Eyed Bandit – March 14th 2011

  Wifey Extraordinaire (part 6) – May 2011

  A Stickier Situation (part 2) – August 2011