Lawd, Mo' Drama

by McKinney, Tina Brooks

  I turned the corner leading to Kayla’s classroom and ran smack into Craig.

  “Damn,” I uttered before I could check my language.

  Laughing out loud, he grabbed my shoulders to steady me, and an electric jolt traversed through my body. Although I had initially thought he was a good-looking man, I had never allowed myself to think of him in a sexual way because he was married; until then. Red splotches marked my cheeks at the mental pictures that played through my head at his touch. He simply chuckled.

  “Just the person I was looking for! Come with me.”

  He pulled my hand and led me back to his office. He was so animated you would have thought someone had lit a match under his ass. I immediately thought something was wrong; my face must have expressed it.

  “No, everything went fine today. I wanted to run something by you. Have you ever had Mya’s hearing tested?”

  “I’m not sure I understand you. The doctors look into her ears every time she has a physical,” I answered, not sure where he was going.

  “Sorry, I’m babbling here, and you don’t know what I’m talking about. Let me start over. I spent some time with Mya today, and she spent a good amount of time with the other children. I noticed that she interacts better with the younger children. She’s really responsive to them and they’re drawn to her. She exhibits more defiance when she’s around the older children.”

  I had noticed similar behavior from her so I was eager for him to continue. I sat up straighter in the chair. “Please, go on.”

  “When she got a little out of control today, I took her into the observation room and she immediately calmed down. I was still working and moving around the room and, at certain times, she acted as if she couldn’t hear me. It seems that Mya’s okay as long as she’s not alone. She panics when she can’t see you and, if my thoughts are accurate, she also gets upset when she can’t hear you.”

  “Wow, this is kind of making sense. She doesn’t get frustrated around her brother and sister and me. It’s easier to get her to do something that I want her to do when she’s not alone. To be honest, I’ve never given any thought as to whether she could hear me or not.”

  “I tried it, Leah, and I think there’s a problem. I walked out of Mya’s eyesight and she started to whimper. I called to her and she didn’t respond. When she saw me, she responded to my words. Now, I’m no doctor, but I think our little Mya can’t hear as well as most people. I’m not suggesting that she’s deaf, but I do think she has an issue with her hearing. I wanted to ask your permission to have her tested.”

  “Craig, I’ll have Mya tested but I need to start saving some money first. I simply cannot afford it right now. In fact, I’ve been seriously considering giving Mya up to a group home that’s better suited to handle her needs. I hate to admit this, but those thoughts are coming more and more frequently,” I said, my shoulders slumping in defeat.

  He rose from his desk and came around to comfort me. I could feel his soft hand on my shoulder and, for a brief moment, I wanted to raise my mouth to it. He was such a kind man. I was jealous of his wife!

  “Hush, please hush,” he said as he rocked me in his arms. He pulled me to my feet and wrapped his arms around me. I was thankful that the door to his office was closed. “I realize things are difficult for you, but please don’t rush to judgment until we can find out what’s going on.”

  “But I’m not just taking myself into consideration. Mya’s behavior affects our entire family. Kayla and Malik can’t have a normal life because of it. If I don’t do something soon I’m liable to ruin Mya’s life; as well as those of her brother and sister!”

  Grabbing my chin in his hands, Craig raised my face so I could look him in the eyes. I was so ashamed of my admission, but it was less shameful than some earlier, desperate thoughts I’d had.

  “Can you just trust me?” he asked, looking deeply in my eyes.

  Lawd, Jesus, it was hard to look him in the face. He was so damned good-looking. I felt like someone was pricking my skin with a thousand needles. I nodded my head and he kissed me on the lips. It wasn’t a deep tongue dance, more like a peck, but it ignited a fire in my blood that caused me to push away from his grasp.

  He seemed uncomfortable. “I’m sorry. I had no right to do that.”

  I walked over to the window to put some distance between us. “It’s okay. I was a little surprised.”

  Clearing his throat, Craig said, “Leah, the center has its own doctors. I thought I had explained that to you when you first came in. If you agree, we can start testing Mya on Monday.”

  “Wow, I knew you had a doctor, but I assumed it was for kids who might have a cold or some other simple ailment. Certainly not this.”

  “They can test her hearing. We have all the equipment here to do it.”

  Tears slipped down my cheeks; I did nothing to stop them. Craig was offering me a ray of hope, and I did not know how to handle this chain of events.

  “Hey, I said I was sorry! Why the tears?” Craig asked, moving closer to draw me into an embrace. “This should be good news.”

  “It is. It’s been so long since things have come this close to being okay. I don’t know how to handle all this good fortune,” I said honestly.

  Craig covered my forehead with soft kisses and tenderly caressed my back and shoulders. It felt so good that I forgot that he belonged to someone else. Lawd! This time, I sought out his mouth and kissed him like my next breath depended on it. I felt his dick growing against my leg as he disengaged from the kiss.

  Picking up my purse, I mumbled, “Schedule the test and I hope you have a good weekend.”

  “Good! I’ll see you Monday!” he yelled at my departing figure.

  I felt like a cheap tramp, and I could not wait to gather the children and get the hell out of the center.

  Once again Mya was smiling when I saw her. She was eager for me to pick her up, and she kissed me on the cheek. She didn’t even mind when Malik and Kayla also joined in for a group hug. Despite my wanton behavior in Craig’s office, I was feeling good about the working-day care thing.

  We were in the car and ready to roll when my cellie rang.

  “Hello,” I chirped, full of cheer. I had just placed the car in reverse, but I had my foot rested on the brake.

  “Leah. We got him. He’s being held in Fulton County jail, but we have extradition orders when he gets released from Fulton.”

  My hands started shaking so badly that I could not drive, so I shoved the gear back into park and turned off the ignition. Mixed emotions about Kentee’s arrest flooded my brain. On one hand I was happy that he would not be able to provide for his other family but, on the more real tip, I was upset that he would not come back to my family.

  “What are the charges in Fulton?”

  “Robbery and theft by taking. He won’t be arraigned until Wednesday. The results of that trial will tell us when we can get our hands on him. Like I told you before, it’s likely your husband’s been stealing for some time. The problem was we could never get a bead on him until I dusted your house for prints. His prints match crime scenes that I’ve visited before. We got him!”

  “Good. I’m about to go home. Please call me later.”

  I didn’t want to hear Coy’s voice any longer. When he was talking about Kentee it became personal, and I was having my own doubts about setting the law on him. Those thoughts were coming from the right side of my brain, while the left side was saying, “That’s what the motherfucker gets!”

  I started the car again and drove to my house; my mind racing the entire way. Not only was I dealing with Kentee’s issues, I was thinking about Mya’s test and what that would mean to our family. If Craig could help me help Mya, it would improve my whole family structure. As it was, Kayla and Malik were held back from a lot of activities because of their sister. My mind said fuck Kentee and his trivial shit but he was, after all, the father of my children and my husband. Dismissing him was easier said than done.

&nbs
p; LEAH

  The message light was blinking on my answering machine when I entered the house. It showed a total of five calls. I waited until I got the children settled before I listened to them. The first three were from Kentee; mostly begging me to come down to the police station to post bail.

  “With what and for what?” I wailed at the machine. Even though I still had the lion’s share of the money from his stolen equipment, I would rather pee on it and set it on fire before I gave a penny of it to assist him. He had shown his lack of love and affection for us all when he left us alone. His messages did nothing but anger me.

  In the fourth message, he had the audacity to be belligerent. “Bitch, how are you going to charge me with breaking and entering into my own house? I’ll see your ass when I get out!”

  I marveled at the contrast between the first three “I love you and I’m sorry” calls and the fourth one where his true colors were revealed. Shaking my head, I poised my finger to delete the fifth message; assuming it was also from Kentee.

  “Ms. Simmons, this is Kimberly Carter from Gateway regarding your recent application for housing. We’ve approved your application and I’m calling to find out when you’d like to take occupancy. Please give me a call at 5-5-5-3-8-1-5. Have a good day.”

  Oh shit! I thought to myself. The Gateway was the nicest of the three subdivisions I had visited. I glanced at my watch as I dialed her number. There was a good chance that she would be gone for the day but I decided to try my luck. If there was no answer, I would leave a message and follow up on Monday.

  An out-of-breath woman answered the phone after the fifth ring. “Gateway. Kim speaking. How may I help you?” Ms. Carter said.

  “Hello, this is Leah Simmons. You left a message on my answering machine, and I’m returning your call,” I said, sucking in my breath.

  “Oh, Ms. Simmons, thanks for calling back.” I could hear paperwork rustling as she asked me to hold for a few seconds. “I wanted to find out if you were still interested in the house and when you might be planning on moving?” she said.

  I attempted to sound nonchalant about the matter. “When will it be available?”

  “It’s ready now. Let me know when you want to take possession, and I can start the paperwork.”

  My nonchalance flew out the window and excitement flew in. “Would tomorrow be too soon? I’d have to move in piece by piece, a little at a time but…”

  “That’s cool with me. Once I turn over the keys to you, it’s on you when you move. I’ll be in the office at nine o’clock. We can sign the papers then.”

  I waited until she had hung up before I started dancing all around the house. This was the second piece of good news of the day. I was on overload. Exhausted, I sank onto a stool at the kitchen counter to analyze how different my life was than a few short weeks ago.

  I had to share this information, so I immediately called Sammie. Lately our lives seemed to be running parallel, and she was the one I wanted to share my good news with first. I picked up the phone to dial, but the dial tone was gone.

  “Hello,” I said, getting ready to push the off button on the cordless phone I was holding.

  “Hey,” Sammie said.

  “Gurl, this shit is weird. I was picking up the phone to call you!”

  “Uh oh,” she said and it sobered me as well. Too many good things were happening and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was being orchestrated somewhere else.

  “Marie,” we said in unison.

  “No doubt about it,” Sammie said. “I can see good things happening to one of us over a period of time.”

  “Yeah, but this shit is unreal! Earlier, I got a call that they locked up Kentee, and I just found out that I got the house I wanted. I can start moving in tomorrow. Which, of course, leads to another request. Can you help me?”

  “Sure, gurl, I got you. I was calling to tell you that Jasmine punched Jessie in the nose. I think she broke his shit!”

  “Get the hell out of here! Where did they meet up?”

  “He came over last night while we were watching movies and started making his usual demands. Jazz hauled off and popped him. I wish you could’ve seen that shit! Jessie practically crawled, dragging his ass out the door, with his tail between his legs,” she said, laughing.

  “Oh, my God! I would’ve paid dearly to have seen that shit,” I replied, laughing as well.

  “Gurl, I was there, and I still don’t believe the shit. He punked out so fast, it was comical. Can you believe I allowed that bastard to beat up on me all those years, and all I had to do was smack his ass and he would have left me alone?”

  “Gurl, Marie is working overtime on our asses! She said to me one day that if you whipped that black ass one time he wouldn’t fuck with you no more.” I clutched my arms around my chest. I felt like I was not alone in the kitchen, and I kept looking around for the source of my discomfort. Seeing no one, I assumed what I had originally thought; that Marie was looking out from up in heaven.

  “There’s something else I wanted to tell you. Althea called and she’s cooking me dinner tonight.”

  “Oh, snap!” I responded for lack of a better response.

  “So, if my ass turns up sick, dead, or shut in, check her ass out first!”

  “And you know this! Can she cook?”

  “Beats the shit out of me. I can’t remember a single meal she ever prepared. When I lived with her she didn’t cook a thing. She had a maid and a cook—me!”

  “Gurl, you’re going to have to call me when you get done and tell me how it went.”

  “She even told me to invite Jasmine but I want to feel her out before I suck Jazz in that mess. She might nut up when I get there, and I don’t want any witnesses when I punch her ass out,” Sammie said.

  “Good idea. From the limited amount I know about your mother, she’s likely to say anything.”

  “You ain’t even lying. She already came out the bag on Jasmine once, and once was enough.”

  “Well, I’ve got to go. I need to fix supper and start packing. I also need to call my mother and let her know we’ll be moving.”

  “Oh, okay. I’ll holla at you later,” Sammie said.

  “Sammie, wait. I forgot to tell you that they arrested Kentee!”

  “Damn, gurl. You did tell me but, if it makes you feel better, I’ll play along! Dang, gurl, for real?” she said, mocking me.

  “Sorry; too much excitement. He left four messages on my machine. Three to apologize for leaving me and asking to come back, after I post bail, of course, and the fourth one cussing me out for having his ass arrested for breaking into the house.”

  “The Lord watches out for damn dummies and fools, and I swear your husband wears both of those hats,” Sammie said.

  “He sure does. Did you ever listen to his voice mail? I’m about to call now and see what kind of response he’s getting from the heifer he left me for.”

  “Gurl, I forgot all about it until now. I’m gonna call before I head over to Althea’s. Check you later,” she said, hanging up the phone.

  SAMMIE

  Laughing out loud, I called the number that Leah had given me. I entered the password and Kentee’s sexy voice filled my ears. As far as I was concerned, he wasn’t much in the looks department, but the brotha had a voice that would make your panties fall off. He had two new messages and a host of old ones. Since I wanted to hear the dirt, I decided to listen to the old messages first.

  “Hey, baby, it’s me. I woke up and reached for you; only to come up empty. How could you sex me so good and leave without giving me a chance to get seconds? Oh, that was so good I can’t stop touching myself; wishing the hands that I felt on my clit were yours! Um, I’m so hot and horny.” The message beeped and cut her off in mid-sentence.

  Damn, I thought to myself as I saved the number in my phone. I was definitely going to come back and listen when I had more time. He had that heifer trained to give him phone sex. She had such a sexy voice, it was getting me
all wet.

  It had been a moment since I had been with a woman, but I hadn’t forgotten the thrill and the feel of a woman’s touch. Most times thoughts of another woman shamed me, and I tried to believe that I had forgotten my past, but every now and then a voice would do something to make me crave a soft touch.

  I replayed the message, and this time I allowed my fingers to wander over my body as I listened to her sexy voice. I began to daydream, thinking about the first time I had felt a woman’s touch. Jessie had wanted to humiliate me, so he paid a stripper to come on to me while I was performing in a club. It backfired when he found out I actually enjoyed it.

  I often thought about trying it again, but I didn’t know how to approach a woman, so I let those thoughts linger unanswered in my mind. Shaking my head, I got ready to visit Althea. I gathered up my things and headed over to her house.

  I was nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs as I knocked on Althea’s door. Her house had represented nothing but pain for me throughout my entire life. I had to fight my feet to keep them moving straight ahead. I willed my hand to actually ring the bell and prayed she would not answer; despite the twenty-minute ride.

  She opened it like she had been standing on the other side waiting for me. She pushed open the screen and waved me in. I felt like a prisoner walking the green mile to execution.

  “Dinner’s almost ready. I kept it simple,” Althea said.

  “What are we having?” I scanned her house and immediately noticed that she had cleaned up the pre-existing mess. Althea had also gotten her hair and nails done; looking more like the mother I remembered.

  “I fried up some chicken and made some potato salad. How’s Jasmine? I’m sorry she couldn’t make it.”

  “Oh, she’s fine. She told me to ask you for a rain check.”