by T. J. Hope
As he continued, Jamika’s attention was interrupted by Big Momma’s car that had just turned the corner. She was happy to know that Big Momma had not forgotten her special day. She hadn’t been able to call Big Momma, because the telephone at Millie’s was disconnected. Big Momma hadn’t been around to visit. She’d been busy taking care of John, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
She bolted past her father to the side of the street to wait for Big Momma. Once they were all alone, she’d tell Big Momma about the things her Uncle Hubert had done to her. As the car grew closer, she noticed Big Momma had bought someone along. She figured it was most likely one of her many aunts or uncles.
Felise sat in the car with Big Momma, excited to see Jamika. She saw a little girl run to the side of the street. Must be one of Sly’s nieces, she was thinking. She wondered where Jamika was. As the car came to a halt, she stepped out. The little girl that had run to the street looked at Big Momma, then at Felise. Felise was busy looking around the yard for Jamika, when she noticed Sly standing near the steps of the wooden, shabby house. Before she could open her mouth to speak, the little girl pounced on her saying, “Mommy! You’re here—you’re really here!” It wasn’t until then that she realized that this little girl was her Jamika. She hugged and kissed her and felt a tinge of guilt. Had it been that long that she didn’t recognize her own child? Why was she looking like a little dirty throwaway child?
Jamika noticed her mother staring at her. She wondered what her mother was thinking. She looked very sad. Jamika thought her mother would be as happy as she was to be reunited. She hoped that her mother was here to stay.
“What’s up, Felise? Long time no see,” Sly said, casually walking over. Damn, he was still fine as hell, she was thinking. But, why was he clean as hell and their daughter looking like a pauper? Somebody had better start explaining or she was definitely going to lose it.
“Jamika, go over there and play with your cousins. I need to talk with your daddy.” Jamika walked over to the other girls, feeling empty and confused.
When they were out of hearing distance of the playing girls, Felise decided to skip the happy reunion act. “Why in the hell is our daughter looking like that? Why is she so fucking skinny? Do you ever comb her damn hair? She doesn’t even have any shoes on her fuckin’ feet, running around in this dirty ass yard. She’s a little girl, she’s supposed—”
“Hold up a minute damn! Will you give me a minute to explain before you jump on me?” he asked.
“Yeah, you better do some quick explaining, because I’m about to get Big Momma’s crowbar out the trunk and go upside some heads about my daughter.”
“Look, after I spoke to you, I got a construction job in Atlanta, making some real money. I had to go for it, so I could do something for my daughter. My mom said that she’d keep her for me in the meantime. She keeps all of Thelma’s kids, so one more wasn’t no big deal. I’m just getting over here to see her today. I bought her a birthday gift and was going to try to make up for some of the lost time.”
Felise hadn’t heard anything past, “Just getting here to see her today”.
“Wait a damn minute. Are you telling me that the whole two years she’s been down here, this is the first time she’s seeing you today?” Felise said.
“Yeah, but I—” Sly tried to interject, but Felise was boiling over with anger.
“You know what? Fuck that, you ain’t shit. Stay the fuck away from us. I thought you would be better than this, Sly. You ain’t shit.”
Sly just stood there in awe. He really did love Jamika and wanted to be a part of her life, but Felise was way too upset to listen. He just let it go not to make a big unforgettable scene. At the same time, he was astonished that Felise still looked like she did in high school.
“Come on, Jamika!” Felise screamed over to Jamika. “Tell the girls bye. You’re going with me and Big Momma. Don’t take anything. Just get in the car.” Felise was clearly undone, bringing her finger to her temple. Sly passed Jamika the gift bag as she passed him. She climbed in the back seat and wondered why her mother and father were so angry. Today was her birthday. Today was the first time she’d ever seen her daddy, and the first time she’d seen her mother since she was five. What was going on?
Big Momma passed Jamika a wrapped sandwich, a bag of chips, and a canned soda. “Sit back and put your seat belt on, Me-Me. Eat up—you back wit’ Big Momma, I’m ‘bout to plump you right on up.” A genuine smile crossed Jamika’s face, something that hadn’t happened in a long while. She would miss her cousins, they’d grown close. But she was ecstatic to be escaping Uncle Hubert, the nights spent sleeping on the floor, taking baths two at a time to preserve water and the many days of eating scraps. She was going back to Big Momma’s, where she lived like a princess.
In fact, Big Momma was the only one that seemed as happy as Jamika was that day. She kept smiling and blinking her eye at Jamika through the rear view mirror. Jamika just kept on smiling back at her. She loved Big Momma so much; not only had she come back for her, she had brought her mother along too.
Chapter Five
It was Christmas Eve; Jamika lay in her bed fighting her sleep against the anticipation of gifts waiting to be opened the next day. She thought about all that had transpired the day both of her parents showed up. She thought that they hated one another. But, shortly after, they moved from Big Momma’s into their own apartment with Sly. Marjorie had also moved back to South Florida and took over their room at Big Momma’s while she looked for a place.
Jamika was back at Dillard Elementary School and was healing in a lot of ways. Her hair was growing back after having to be cut to heal the sand sores on her scalp. She was a lot quieter than Felise remembered her to be.
Recently, Jamika’s teacher had called Felise in for a conference. Jamika had been drawing penises on all the pictures that she drew in class. The teacher had asked Felise if Jamika had any brothers or male cousins that she may have seen; that could explain her fascination with drawing penises. Felise asked Jamika repeatedly where she’d seen one, but her questions went unanswered. This bothered Felise immensely as the drawings were too close in resemblance of a real penis for her to have never seen one. Felise dropped the issue, not to stress Jamika or make her uncomfortable. She didn’t need the stress either, as she was now expecting.
Jamika kept searching for the right moment to finally tell someone about her Uncle Hubert. Her mother and father were happy together, and she hadn’t wanted to upset them, so she never told them of the things he had done to her. Her thoughts were slowly overcome by a relaxing sleep, in her own bed, with all of her own things.
Meanwhile, Felise finished preparing her Christmas dish and mentally prepared herself for the questions her mother was sure to ask. “So, Felise…” Marjorie began. “When did you and Sly become an item?” Felise told Marjorie about the day she arrived and the condition she found Jamika in. She told her the explanations and apologies Sly had given, and how they both have decent jobs and are a family. She told her everything; she’d planned to anyway, but wanted to do it in person. Her mother was very understanding. She knew her mother wasn’t thrilled with the idea of her being pregnant by Sly, again. But, she knew that her mother would always be there for her. She was happy that her mother decided to move back.
Christmas morning was beautiful. It was eighty-five degrees, sunny, yet breezy. Felise and Marjorie talked about how they’d forgotten how good the weather was in South Florida. Here it was the end of December and there were pool parties and barbecues being planned all over town.
Jamika was in an ecstatic mood. She felt happier than she had in a long time. She was with the people that loved her most. Her daddy was outside, putting her new bicycle together. Felise sat on the couch, smiling, watching her open gifts. Marjorie was busy snapping pictures and laughing.
They spent the remainder of the day at Big Momma’s, where the rest of the family had gathered.
There was ham, chicken, ribs, chitterlings, black-eyed peas, rice, okra, stuffing, candied yams, potato salad, seven cakes and ten sweet potato pies. Everyone ate, talked and laughed. The children all played with their toys and each other. This is what it was all about, family togetherness; Jamika was thinking to herself that things would finally be all right.
It was a rainy Saturday afternoon. Jamika watched television while the adults played cards. Felise hadn’t been feeling well all day. She really hadn’t wanted company, but if it would keep Sly at home, she was all for it. Sly had started to act rather strangely and was coming home later than usual. She took it as nervousness over the new baby to come, and having to take over most of the bills, since she had become too far along in her pregnancy to continue to work full-time. He had also lost a lot of weight.
She felt a slight pain in her stomach, but paid no particular attention to it. She still had two weeks before she was due, and she’d been having those same slight pains all day. The pain that ripped through her next could not be ignored. It was so intense that she grabbed her stomach and let out a high-pitched, closed-eyed scream before she realized it.
Suddenly, the room became silent. Everyone’s attention had turned toward the pain-wretched scream. She realized that this wasn’t just another pain. A single tear escaped her eye, as she whispered, “It is time.”
“Okayee, party’s over! You ain’t got to go home, but you got to get the hell out of here!” Sly said. He directed Jamika to meet them down by Slick’s van. Slick was Felise’s first cousin and always came over for card parties, and always drank too much. Today was no exception. Slick was laughing so hard that his eyes had filled with water and he could barely stand up.
Both Sly and Slick were sloppy drunk. Once they made it downstairs, Slick struggled to look sober as he held open the sliding door of the blue, Dodge van. Jamika ran and jumped in the van just as he was helping Felise inside. Sly looked at how drunken Slick was and said, “Oh, hell naw. You ain’t gonna kill us, I’ll drive.”
“Uh-uh, this is a, is a classic, don’t nobody drive this but me,” replied Slick.
“Slick, you drunk as hell, man, just sit over there and relax.” Sly said dragging his words from his own intoxication.
“Hell no, ain’t nobody drivin’ my shit but me.”
Another pain hit Felise as Sly and Slick began wrestling, which quickly turned into a fistfight. Felise couldn’t believe it; here she was about to give birth, and her man and favorite cousin were throwing blows.
Felise climbed into the driver’s seat where she could see the keys dangling from the ignition, and started the van. She signaled for Jamika to come to the front seat and put on her seatbelt. She put the van into the drive gear, and pressed the gas pedal down hard before either man could react. She drove herself all the way to the hospital, running stop signs and stoplights, all the while screaming and crying from all the pain of the little life trying to make its way into the world.
It’s a girl! Felise decided to name her Rasheeda Taketa Tyler. The baby was beautiful and resembled Felise immensely.
Sly and Slick never made it to the hospital. Felise had given birth within two hours of making it to the hospital. Marjorie had taken Jamika back home to Sly, and had called to say that he and Slick were drunk as two skunks, and were laughing like two hyenas when she left. Felise wanted to slap the black off Sly. She had just experienced the worst pain imaginable, and he wasn’t there to even hold her hand. But, he was surely there to hold on to her ass while creating her. She decided she better go back to the apartment to check on Jamika. She’d come back to pick the baby up tomorrow. She needed to pick up some things for the baby, anyway.
Felise turned the key and opened the apartment door quietly, as to not wake Sly and Jamika. It was after midnight, and she’d had to sneak from the hospital because they did not allow new mothers out so soon. She thought of calling Marjorie, but knew she would talk her out of leaving the hospital. She had caught hell trying to catch a cab.
She reached for the television switch in order to shed a faint light over the apartment; this way she could see her way around without waking her loved ones. Wait a minute, I know this is where the TV normally is, Felise thought. She felt for the television again, nothing but empty space. He must have moved it, she thought. She turned on a little lamp that sat beside the couch and couldn’t believe her eyes. Not only was the television gone, so was the Sony stereo system she’d gotten from her mother for Christmas. There were beer cans, soda cans, empty plates, and all types of garbage strewn about the apartment. All at once, Felise was worried and puzzled. Oh God! Had they been robbed? Was Sly and Jamika all right?
Felise rushed to the bedroom and pushed open the door. There wasn’t any way that she could have been prepared for what she saw. The bedroom television was gone, too. In fact, everything of value seemed to be missing. Even the hand-made silk quilt Big Momma had made for their queen-sized bed was gone. On the right end table, lay a plate of cocaine, and a bottle of Paul Masson. At the foot of the bed lay a stem, used for smoking crack cocaine. Sly laid across the bed so dazed from all the drugs he’d consumed; he didn’t immediately realize Felise had just busted in on him. However, the white, prostitute-looking woman who had been in the middle of giving him a blowjob did. She looked at Felise with gigantic, glazed-over eyes.
Felise at once remembered how strangely Sly had been acting lately. She recalled his late nights out, the necklace she thought she’d lost, and Jamika’s Walkman that mysteriously came up missing. His weight lost. All this was consistent with a crack addict.
Before she realized it, she had leaped across the room in what seemed like one step. She grabbed the old iron lamp that set on the dresser where her television and jewelry box once sat. She flung the old lamp at Sly with all her might. It struck him on his back, and then hit the floor with a crash as the light bulb broke on the un-cushioned tiles.
Jamika awoke to a loud crash. She could hear yelling and cursing. She walked to her bedroom door afraid, wiping the sleep from her eyes. She opened the door to see a white, naked woman running from her parents’ room. Then she saw her daddy standing in nothing but his boxer shorts, and her mother teary eyed, yelling at him to get out at the top of her lungs.
Without notice, Sly punched Felise with so much force that she fell back into the wall. He leaned over her and started to punch her repeatedly. It looked like Muhammad Ali pounding on a defenseless challenger. Jamika was horrified. Her mother’s cries felt like they were pinching the air from her lungs. Then, she saw her father snatch an earring through the hole in her mother’s ear.
Jamika could feel a ball of fire begin in her stomach and slowly rise to her chest, as she saw her mother’s blood slowly seep down her neck, onto the collar of her shirt. Then it seemed as if the fireball had taken over. She ran over and jumped on her father’s back. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, and her legs were swinging. She yelled through hot tears, “Get off my momma! Stop it! Stop it! Leave her al—” Before she could finish her pleading, Sly had flung her off his back into the room. She hit the tiles hard. She saw little colored spots floating around her vision from the impact of her head hitting the floor.
Jamika spotted the old iron lamp with the broken light bulb on the floor. By now, the fireball inside of her had become a burning furnace that seemed to stretch all over her body. Her mother was being beaten to a bloody pulp. She grabbed the old lamp and headed for the hunched over figure that was pounding her mother. She brought it down against the back of Sly’s skull so hard, that he was knocked unconscious.
Felise opened her eyes. All of a sudden, the solid fists had stopped battering her. She saw Jamika standing there, with wide teary eyes, gripping the old iron lamp with what looked to be a death grip. Felise held her arms open; Jamika dropped the lamp and ran to her. They hugged and cried together.
The police arrived, one hour and twenty-four minutes later. Felise had managed to make it to the next-door neighbors t
o call the police department and Marjorie. Marjorie had reached there in what seemed to be minutes. Yet, the policemen took their time as usual, when being called into the low-income neighborhoods.
“Damn, somebody could be dead by now,” Marjorie yelled out to the approaching officers. The irony was that she was referring to Sly, who was just coming around. She had told herself that she was going to take him out if he had come to and tried to hurt Felise or Jamika further. She had come prepared in her sneakers and shorts. Her shoulder hurt against the weight of the .38 Special concealed in her purse.
Marjorie followed the ambulance that carried Felise and Jamika. Sly was taken in a separate ambulance. Felise had given a full statement about the events that occurred that night. Sly would be going from the hospital to a jail cell on a domestic violence charge as soon as he recovered. Jamika was going for x-rays and a CAT scan, because she complained that her head still hurt. Felise would be in the hospital a little longer to treat her wounds. Not only was she still healing from having the baby, she needed her earlobe stitched, and her face had begun to swell so badly, she could barely be recognized.
Marjorie and Jamika sat in the hospital waiting room, waiting for the paperwork to be notarized so that Marjorie could take little Rasheeda home until Felise recovered. Jamika looked up to see Millie entering the emergency room doors. Jamika closed her eyes and leaned against Marjorie, like she hadn’t noticed her enter.
Millie rushed over and said, “Oh my goodness, I heard about what happened. I don’t know what the hell got into that boy of mine. Is Felise all right? How’s the baby? Are you all right Lil’ Sly?”
“My name is Jamika!” Jamika snapped back. She knew Marjorie wouldn’t let anybody harm her. Any other time, she knew Millie would have slapped her silly. Marjorie looked at Jamika and said, “Mika, you apologize to Ms. Millie, there’s no reason to be rude.”
