After the Rain

by Vanessa Miller

  “Don’t look at me like that,” Donavan told him. “I’m concerned about you. And I’m glad that you stopped in to see me.” Donavan stood and walked over to the sofa. “Come over here and sit down with me.”

  Ikee didn’t have anything else to do, so he joined his brother on the sofa, but he still had a sulky look on his face. “I just don’t understand why everybody’s so worried about whether or not I’m in school. It’s so much going on in these streets that I can’t even think about school right now.”

  “You do know that you don’t have to be on the street, right?”

  “Oh really?” Ikee’s voice was laden with sarcasm. “Is that why your father threw me out like I wasn’t even related to him?”

  “From what I heard, you stole Mama’s car and then was caught in a drug house selling drugs. I don’t know why you thought any of that was going to fly.”

  “He didn’t have to throw me out. I’m only fifteen. How am I supposed to take care of myself?” Ikee hadn’t thought taking care of himself was such a big deal when his dad had first put him out. But after two days on his own, only a hundred dollars left to his name and no way to flip that money, because he didn’t trust anybody enough to try to purchase any more product.

  “I’m paranoid,” Ikee admitted. “I don’t know who to trust on these streets.”

  “That’s good. Being paranoid will keep you alive.”

  “Daddy told me about the hell experience he had when he was younger. I think he only told me to make me think twice about my actions. But it’s making me overthink things. And then Geeze tried to shoot me a little while ago and I just knew that I was about to open my eyes in hell with no way out.”

  Donavan jumped up. “Somebody tried to shoot you?”

  “Yeah… you remember Young Geeze. He attends youth group sometimes.”

  Donavan nodded. “I remember him. His real name is Todd Harper and his mother is a God fearing woman. I wish she didn’t have to deal with Todd’s antics.”

  “I wish I didn’t have to put up with his antics… he just tried to shoot me, remember?”

  “How did you get away from him?”

  “I told you already. I jumped out of the car and rolled my way to the curb.”

  “You were serious about that?” Donavan shook his head. “Why didn’t you just stay at home? What possessed you to think you could be a gangster?”

  Ikee honestly didn’t want to go back outside. The more he thought about the prospect, the more afraid he was becoming. Since he didn’t want to leave, he figured he might as well respond to his brother. “I had skipped out on church one Sunday and ran into this guy named Bobby-Ray. He came up to me, said he recognized me from the church and then started telling me stories about Daddy that I’d never heard before.

  “After hearing about all the things Dad did in his heyday”—Ikee hunched his shoulder—“I don’t know… It was like I finally understood why I wasn’t like the rest of you do-gooders in this family. I thought maybe I’m supposed to be a hustler. But it’s crazy out there. Dad said the only reason he survived was because he had someone who mentored him as he was coming up. If I had somebody like that, maybe it would be different for me.”

  “It wouldn’t be that much different. I don’t know if Dad filled you in all the way on that mentor of his, but once Daddy’s business started growing, his so-called mentor turned his back on him and Dad almost got killed because of it.”

  “He didn’t tell me that. But he’s only just started telling me anything about his former life.”

  “I used to wonder if Daddy’s don’t-talk-about-the-past rule would come back to bite us one day. But he was adamant about having you grow up without the knowledge of his past. Dad thought that it was enough that you knew that he used to be in that life, but he never wanted you to know the full extent.”

  “Instead of telling me anything, he just chose to throw me out,” Ikee said bitterly.

  “You can’t be mad at Dad for that,” Donavan told him. “When I was a teenager, I was angry with Dad because he seemed more interested in his ministry than in helping Mom parent me. I fell in with a bad crowd and the end result wasn’t good… but the worst part was that Mom almost died because of my disobedience. Trust me, Ikee. You don’t want something like that on your conscience.”

  “I always thought you were such a square. I didn’t think you could understand what I was going through.”

  “I have been honest during youth group. I’ve always told you that I did things that I wasn’t proud of when I was younger.”

  “Yeah, but you never went into detail so I didn’t know just how bad things were. You and I are two different people; I never thought that you’d done anything that I would consider all that bad. And…,” he admitted, “I wanted to prove to people that I wasn’t no choir boy.”

  “If you think that nickname is bad, my sister used to call me Golden Boy because she thought I was so good and by the book. A cringed every time she called me that because I knew that my lifestyle didn’t match up.”

  “Wow. I never knew that you and I had so much in common,” Ikee told him while looking at his brother with open eyes. He felt comfortable talking to his brother now and wanted to know, “What do you think I should do now?”

  “If people are shooting at you, I think we should go to the police.”

  Ikee shook his head. “These aren’t the kind of guys you snitch on. Geeze tried to shoot me because I refused to be Lou Jones’ errand boy.”

  “Please tell me you didn’t just say the name Lou Jones,” Donavan demanded as he stood and started pacing the room.

  “Yeah, Lou Jones.” Then Ikee figured he may as well fess up to the rest of his crimes. After all, his brother had been where he’s at. They could put their heads together and figure a way out for him. “Geeze claimed he had a spot where I could unload my product. That’s where I was at yesterday. Everything was going good until this crack head started harassing me. She wanted to do all sorts of favors just to get her hands on my product, but all I wanted was the money. The next thing I knew the cops were pulling down on us.

  “Geeze and I took off running and then we had to throw out the money and everything. But the next day Lou tells me that I still owe him twenty percent. And since I had five-o on his block and he couldn’t make money yesterday he said that me and Geeze had to pick up his next score and then deliver it to five different locations.”

  “And if Lou wanted you to pick up as much drugs as I think, do you know how much time you’d get if the police caught you?”

  “I told Geeze that we would be suckas if we picked that stuff up… said we should just ride out. But he wasn’t trying to hear it.”

  Donavan ran his hands up his face and behind his ears. “I just wish you hadn’t got yourself involved with Lou Jones.”

  “Daddy told me to stay away from Bobby-Ray because of bad blood between them.”

  “Guess who had bad blood with Lou Jones?” Donavan asked as he pointed at himself.

  “What? No way.” Ikee started laughing. “You and Daddy really should have warned a brother. Who knew that y’all had beef with some many people?”

  “It’s not funny, Ikee.” Donavan sat back down across from his brother. “You are in more danger than you know. Lou’s father was Mickey Jones. When I was a kid, me and three other guys robbed Mickey’s dope house. He hunted us down, killed two of the guys. I had been next on his list; that’s how Mama got shot. She and I both went to the hospital that night. Now do you finally understand why Daddy does not want you in the house if you’re involved in his former life. He knows that those guys play for keeps.”

  “You said Mickey killed two of them and then shot you. What happened to the fourth guy?”

  Donavan smiled as he said, “He played in the NBA a few years. When his knee gave out, he became a lawyer. He’s now married with a beautiful family and doing very well for himself.”

  “Well, something good came out of it,” Ikee said.
/>
  “Good for him, bad for you. Because the only reason he was able to live long enough to do any of those things is because Daddy caught up with Mickey and then beat him until the police arrived and hauled Mickey off to jail. Mickey got himself killed in prison and the family blames us, so I doubt that Lou was pleased to see you.”

  “What am I going to do, Donavan? Geeze knows where I’m staying. He’s probably already told Lou where to find me.” Ikee knew that fear showed in his eyes. But he didn’t care, right about now he was ready to admit that he was terrified, if that’s what it would take to get Donavan to help him.

  “One thing is for sure: You can’t go back to that hotel.”

  “But my clothes are still there.” He had a couple pair of Jordan’s that he’d stood in line for hours to get. He wasn’t trying to let somebody just pick through his stuff.

  “I’ll call Pete and ask him to pack up your things and bring them to church. And you’re coming home with me tonight.”

  “But Dad said he didn’t want me around his grandchildren.” Ikee really wanted to go home with Donavan. But he didn’t want to put his brother’s family at risk. “Maybe you should just put me up in a different hotel,” Ikee suggested.

  Shaking his head, Donavan told him, “I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I left you out there with no one to watch your back.”

  “What about Diana and the kids?”

  “I’m gonna see if they can stay at Iona’s place for a couple of days. Johnny won’t be back home until tomorrow night, so I think she’ll enjoy the company.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Once Diana and the kids were off to spend a few days at Iona’s house, Donavan ordered a pizza and then he and Ikee kicked back in the game room and watched a basketball game on his brand new 65 inch smart television. The San Antonio Spurs were playing the Charlotte Hornets. Ikee liked the Spurs because they had won so many championships and even took down the Miami Heat last year. But Donavan was all in for the Charlotte Hornets.

  “Man, why you even rooting for them. Didn’t you see how they got swept in the playoffs last year?” Ikee said, as he began to relax and enjoy himself. He was safe in his brother’s home. Nobody was shooting at him, cops weren’t chasing after him and no drug lord was pressuring him to do things he didn’t want to do.

  “I saw how they got swept. But I also see this new team they’ s building. They might have had a bad start, but they’ve figuring things out. By next year, this team will be a real contender.”

  “We ain’t talking ‘bout next year. We talking ‘bout the right here and now… and they are getting ready to get embarrassed by the Spurs.”

  “You wanna bet?” Donavan asked trying to get a friendly wager going.

  Ikee laughed at him. “I thought Christians didn’t believe in betting and stuff like that.”

  “I’m not after your money. Just a friendly wager. If the Hornets win you have to wash those dishes that I told Diana I’d take care of tonight.”

  “Okay.” Ikee could get with that. “And if the Spurs win, what do I get?”

  “I won’t tell Daddy about your comedic, bumbling career as a dope man.” Donavan shoved his brother and then said, “That’s for talking about how my team got swept last year.”

  “Ha ha, very funny. You must want me to be kicked out of the family altogether. I hope you’re ready to support me, because it’s obvious that I can’t make money going the illegal route. Not with how many beefs you and Dad have out there.”

  Donavan laughed at him. “You’ve had the worst luck of anybody I’ve ever heard of trying to sell drugs. You might want to pick another profession because as hard as Mom and Dad are over there praying against you on this, I don’t think you are going to have any success in the drug game.”

  The game got going and the two men rooted for their teams. The Hornets gave it a good go and by the fourth quarter it seemed as if victory was in sight for the team, but the Spurs proved why they were a championship team and pulled out the win with only a five point difference.

  When the game was over, Ikee admitted, “The Hornets got game. I think you might be right… if they get one or two more quality players on the team, they might just be a contender.”

  “I thought you knew,” Donavan said as he stood up.

  “Going to bust them suds?” Ikee taunted.

  “Yeah, you can hang out in here or come to the kitchen with me.”

  “I’m feeling so good about my team pulling out the win, that I just might help you, bro.” They both headed downstairs.

  Donavan turned on the news while he put the dishes in the dishwasher. Ikee wiped off the counter. They were laughing and joking together for the first time in many years. The brothers were truly enjoying each other’s company. But then there was breaking news and Ikee and Donavan both had to sit down on the stools at the counter and watch as pictures of Young Geeze and several other men in handcuffs flashed on the television. The newscaster quickly reported about the drug sting that had rounded up everybody but the ring leader.

  The newscaster stated that the police had been after Lou Jones, a known drug dealer, but since his hands never touched this latest shipment they hadn’t been able to arrest him with the rest of the men in his organization.

  Donavan turned to Ikee and said, “It’s time to tell Daddy what’s going on.”

  ~~~~

  Nina and Isaac hadn’t eaten a thing in the past three days. Their days had been filled with prayer and now they were reading the scriptures trying to find something that gave them a clue on how to deal with their wayward son.

  Nina stopped turning the pages at Isaiah chapter 40 and began reading at verse 28:

  Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

  They read several scriptures, but one theme stood out in everything they read… trust God. It was as if God was telegraphing that He had this covered and that everything would turn out okay. The only problem was, this wasn’t Nina and Isaac’s first rodeo. They understood that even though things would turn out the way God intended them to be before it was all over, that didn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t go through a whole bunch of drama and trauma in the meantime.

  Isaac pulled Nina into his arms as he said, “We just have to trust Him. It’s hard because we’re in the middle of going through with Ikee, but if we step outside of this for a moment and look back to all the other occasions when God turned things around for us, then we’ll be comforted.”

  “I am comforted in the Lord. I just wish our children didn’t have to pay the price for our past mistakes.”

  “We probably should have moved out of this town a long time ago. But I kept thinking that God had us here to help set the captives free.”

  “Don’t second guess yourself, Isaac.” Nina put a hand on his face as she snuggled in closer to him. “Our ministry has brought so many people to Christ that I not only think that this is where God wanted you to be, I know it.”

  Isaac leaned forward and kissed his wife. “Thank you for saying that. Our children have gone through so much because of the choices I made that I don’t know what I would do if I had heard God wrong and kept us in this city, only to bring destruction to our doorstep.”

  “We’ve kept our faith in God for all these years, Isaac. I don’t see a reason to stop believing and trusting His guidance now.” After several beats she said, “Maybe we should have talked to Ikee about the past instead of hiding it from him. I can admit our part in this, but that still doesn’t give him an excuse to go off the way he has. Children may be affected by generational curses, but they still have the ability to choos
e to do right.”

  “The boy has a hard head. But I still want him to straighten up and come back home.”

  “I want to see him in his cap and gown as he graduates from high school,” Nina said, smiling at the thought.

  “You’re thinking about high school, but I want to see that cap and gown as he graduates college. That’s when I’ll feel like our job is done.”

  The phone rang. Nina jumped. “Maybe it’s Ikee.”

  Isaac looked at the caller ID, then told his wife. “It’s Donavan.” He picked up then asked his son, “Did everything go okay at the church today?”

  “I didn’t burn the place down, if that’s what you were worried about,” Donavan joked with his father.

  “I’m not worried about anything like that. I know you’ve got a handle on the place. You’ll be taking over when I retire and start traveling around the world with your mother.”

  “As if I even believe you’ll do something like that,” Donavan said and then his voice took on a serious note. “Ikee came to the church today.”

  Isaac sat up. “He did? Is he okay? Why didn’t you call me?”

  “I brought him home with me. We had been having a good time together until the news came on.”

  “What’s that about the news?” Isaac asked, wondering if he’d heard Donavan right.

  “I don’t want to discuss it over the phone. Can you come over here? We need to run something by you.”

  ~~~~

  Isaac pulled into Donavan’s driveway, but before he could get out of the car, his cell rang. He saw that it was Nina, so he stayed seated and answered her call. “Hey baby, I just pulled up.”

  “I thought you were there by now. I just want to pray with you before you go inside.”

  He knew what this was about. Nina wanted to make sure he didn’t wring their son’s neck. “Okay, baby, that sounds good to me.”

  Nina led the prayer as she called on God to see them through whatever issue Ikee was dealing with. She prayed that the Lord would give her husband patience and the ability to listen and understand exactly what the spirit of God was directing him to do. When she finished praying she had one final request for her husband. “Give your son a hug.”