“Oh, hey, baby—I’m mighty fine, mighty fine, indeed,” Ms. Jansen said. “Lord, look at this. She was hiding back there behind the trunk, I couldn’t see her face. I knew you had a twin sister, but my word, I ain’t never seen two people look so much alike. How you doin’, sugar? Come on over here, don’t be shy.”
Buoyed by a “get over here quick” look from Sydney, Lauren walked awkwardly over to the old lady and fell stiffly into her embrace. “Nice to, um, meet you,” she said, patting Ms. Jansen on her back and pulling away as quickly and efficiently as she could. “So, um, Syd, can you, uh, help me get the boxes out of the car?” Lauren asked, jutting her chin toward Baby, hoping it was a strong enough hint to her sister that they needed to get moving. Uncle Larry wasn’t going to wait.
“Yes, um, excuse me, Ms. Jansen, while I help Lauren unload. We’re going to a lunch meeting with our party planner, and Lauren’s paying, so I need to hurry up before she changes her mind,” Sydney said, pouring on the charm with a wink.
“Oh, go ‘head, sugar—don’t let me get in the way of a free meal,” Ms. Jansen said. “I best get back inside, too. Gonna have a lot of hungry moms and kids on my hands in about a half hour, and the Meals on Wheels truck should be here in a few minutes.”
“Okay, Ms. Jansen, we’re just going to bring the boxes in and we’ll be out of the way in a sec,” Sydney said.
“Okay, then. It sure was good to meet you, Lauren. You got a mighty fine sister,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am, it was good to meet you, too,” Lauren said, waving.
Both sisters watched Ms. Jansen as she disappeared into the building, then ducked their heads into the trunk for a quick convo.
“So we’re all set with Uncle Larry, right?” Sydney asked as she shuffled through one of the several bags Lauren had stuffed with old skirts and jeans she’d long banished to the back corner of her closet, never to see the light of day again.
“Yeah, I confirmed again on the way over here,” Lauren said as she fingered a hot ivory silk BCBG cami she’d stuffed in the bag. She remembered it well—wore it to Homecoming last year under a fab wine-colored Betsey Johnson cropped jacket that she paired with a soft purple tutu. With the tutu, she just couldn’t part, even though that, too, would never be rocked again. Once she’d been photographed in it—wearing it in public was no longer an option.
“God, this outfit was so cute!” Lauren gushed.
“Lauren! Focus!” Sydney said, snapping her fingers.
“I am—trust,” Lauren said. “Nobody is more focused than me right now.”
“Well, what did you tell him we wanted to talk about?” quizzed Sydney.
“I told him that I was bringing you over to introduce him to his niece,” Lauren said.
“And?”
“And that we wanted to get his take on what’s going on, because he’s a neutral party and knows enough background to help us figure things out.”
“And? What did he say?” Sydney asked, exasperated.
“And he said it was fine, but we needed to be quick about it because he really didn’t need anyone to see us in his house. And he wants us to take a cab so neither of our cars are parked outside.”
“We can do that,” Sydney said as she walked the bags toward the shelter’s kitchen door. “As a matter of fact, that’s a great idea, because if Keisha’s little friend is still following us, he’ll see that our cars are still here and think we’re doing what we said we were going to do, which was meet Renaldo here for lunch, right?”
“I guess,” Lauren said.
“Don’t guess—know,” Sydney said. “We have exactly two and a half hours before Renaldo arrives. Let’s hope this time he’s at least sober, so we can wrap up the details for this party. It’s really starting to stress me out.”
“Yeah, well, this much I know,” Lauren said sarcastically. “I don’t have any cash—I hope you have some cab money.”
Sydney shook her head and walked into the Better Day. Some things, she said to herself, never change.
“We need to make a quick stop before we get to our final destination,” Lauren told the cab driver as she punched in a message on her cell and snapped it shut.
“Wait, what do you mean we have to make a stop?” Sydney asked, frowning at her sister. “I thought you said Uncle Larry was in a rush.”
“It’ll be quick. We’re just going to pull up to the McDonald’s right around the corner from Uncle Larry’s house and pick up Jermaine.”
“Jermaine?” Sydney boomed. “Who said Jermaine was coming with us? Does Uncle Larry know?”
“Me, and no,” Lauren said simply.
“Don’t you think the two of us should have talked about this?” Sydney demanded. “I mean, Uncle Larry is already freaked out about us coming to his house, and now you want to bring the bogeyman to his place, too? Are you crazy?”
“Oh, calm down, Syd,” Lauren said, peering out the window to get a read on how far they were from the spot where Jermaine had just told her they should meet. “There’s no need for the dramatics. I figured it would be best if we had Jermaine there so that he and Uncle Larry could exchange info. The more we have, the better we’ll understand what’s up, and the closer he can get to finding out what really happened to his brother.”
“But—” Sydney began.
“But it’s too late to change this, Syd. We’re here,” she said, pointing to the McDonald’s. Jermaine was standing at the door near the drive-thru, a black hoodie with countless dollar signs covering his face. “Right over there, sir. We’re going to pick him up and then head on over to Peeples Street.”
The driver did what he was told. Jermaine hopped into the car on Sydney’s side and slammed the door behind him. “What up?” he said, pulling his hood off his face to get a better look at the girls. It took him a quick second to figure out who was who; Lauren’s smile was just the clue he needed.
“Hey, baby,” Lauren said, leaning over Sydney to give Jermaine a peck on his cheek. “I sure am glad to see you.”
Sydney sat back and didn’t say another word until the three of them walked up Uncle Larry’s driveway to the side entrance of his house, a surprisingly modern four-bedroom flat that mirrored the neat row of houses in this particular section of the West End. Lauren rang the bell; Uncle Larry appeared in the door almost instantly.
“What’s he doing here?” Uncle Larry snapped.
“I asked him to come,” Lauren said. “I can explain.”
Uncle Larry’s eyebrows were furrowed at an impossible angle. He was not happy. “Get on in here before somebody sees the three of y’all at my door,” he said, rushing Jermaine, Sydney, and Lauren into a narrow hallway just inside his home. Uncle Larry took a quick sweep of his driveway and the neighbor’s yard to make sure no one was watching, and then quickly shut the door.
Uncle Larry pushed past the trio and led them through his kitchen and into the basement, a lush, dark entertainment room replete with a plasma TV, several couches and chairs arranged just so, a full bar, and a pool table. Whoever decorated down there had the touch; it was gorgeous.
“Wow, this is a pretty nice place you have here,” Sydney said.
“You say that like you’re surprised,” Uncle Larry said.
Lauren held her breath.
“I, um, didn’t mean anything by that, really,” Sydney said uncomfortably. “I’m Sydney,” she added, reaching for her uncle’s hand.
“Oh, I thought you were Lauren,” he said, bypassing Sydney’s hand and pulling her into a warm embrace. “Look at you—y’all ain’t changed. I couldn’t tell the two of you apart when you were little, and I still can’t to this day.”
“I’m cuter,” Lauren laughed, reaching to Uncle Larry to give him a hug. “This is Jermaine.”
“I know who he is,” Uncle Larry practically growled, pulling away from Lauren. “I didn’t agree to him being here.”
“I know, Uncle Larry, but if we can just sit and talk and explain…” Lauren
started.
“Yeah, about that,” Uncle Larry said, looking at his watch. “I don’t have a lot of time for the chitchat. Go on over there and sit down on the sofa. Honestly, I don’t know how I’m going to be able to help you, and I damn for sure ain’t gonna be able to help him.”
The trio moved themselves to the sofa, Lauren holding Jermaine’s hand to help calm him. It was clear that he was nervous; he still had his hoodie on and kept shifting back and forth on the heels of his Tims. “Actually, we didn’t come here for help, we came for information,” Sydney said.
Uncle Larry eyeballed each of the teenagers sitting before him, and then slowly sat in his recliner. He stared at them some more, his eyes focusing on Jermaine the hardest. And then, finally, he said, “What do you want to know.”
“Well,” Sydney said, looking at Lauren and Jermaine, “maybe you can start with telling us why we didn’t know you existed until a few weeks ago, and what happened between Dice, my mom, and Altimus.”
“And what kind of business Altimus has going on here in the West End,” Lauren chimed in.
“And who took out my brother,” Jermaine huffed, speaking up for the first time.
“Now, hold on there, son. I don’t know nothing about what happened to your brother,” Uncle Larry said, turning his full attention to Jermaine. “That’s up to the detectives to sort out, and I ain’t no detective. I’m a simple man with a simple job down at the UPS, and I make a point of staying out of other people’s ‘business.’”
“But you helped me that Saturday…” Lauren began.
“You’re family,” he said simply.
“Exactly,” Sydney chimed in. “And I really want to know why we didn’t know about you—why our mother named my sister after you but didn’t tell us you existed. What kind of family hides relatives?”
Uncle Larry sat back in his chair and stared at Sydney. It seemed like an eternity passed before he spoke again. “Look,” he finally said. “Altimus, your stepdaddy, is a lot of things. Legit ain’t one of them. Everybody in these parts knows that much, and I’m probably not telling you anything you don’t already know.”
“Actually, Uncle Larry, we probably know way less than you think,” Sydney responded.
“Obviously, if you’re tooling around the West End, trying to solve murder mysteries and dating boys you know nothing about,” Uncle Larry said, tossing a glare at Jermaine for good measure. Jermaine shifted in his seat; Lauren put her hand on his knee protectively. She did wonder, though, what it was she didn’t know about Jermaine that had her uncle so jumpy.
“Uncle Larry, let’s just, um, stay on subject, okay?” Sydney said gently. “Tell us this: Why did our mother and Dice break up, and how did Altimus and she get together?”
“Hmm,” Uncle Larry started. “Let’s just say that Dice and your mama didn’t see eye to eye on a few things as it related to her business with Altimus.”
“So they all knew each other back in the day?” Lauren asked.
“Knew each other? Shoot, Dice and Altimus were running partners—couldn’t check for one without finding the other. They grew up together, right here in the West End. Got into a lot of trouble together, too, when they got into the game. And my sister, Keisha? She was running right there with them.”
“Our mother?” Lauren said, confused.
“Yeah, baby,” Uncle Larry said softly. “Your mama was just as involved in their, um, business dealings as they were. In fact, half the time, I couldn’t figure out if she was doing more of the dirty work than the boys were. The three of them were riding high over here in the West End for a good stretch, too—had money flowing like wine at a wedding. Thing is, not everybody wants to stay stuck in the muck, if you know what I’m saying, and your daddy wanted out of the life.”
“Which daddy,” Lauren asked, leaning in.
“Your daddy,” Uncle Larry said. “Dice gonna always be your daddy, no matter what Altimus says or does,” he added, clearly getting agitated.
“What happened between y’all?” Sydney asked, noticing that a nerve had been struck.
Uncle Larry swallowed really hard and sucked his teeth. “Like I said, your daddy, Dice, wanted out of the game. But your mother, she wasn’t ready to give up all her Gucci and gold—didn’t want to hang it up just yet. And she told that to Dice, but Dice wouldn’t listen to her. See, he knew that the longer he stayed in the game, the more dangerous it would get for his two pretty little babies. And the one thing he wasn’t going to have was his family in jeopardy. But your mama, she had other plans—thought she could keep up the life without any hassle. And when they got to disagreeing about it, Keisha had Dice squashed and went from the ex-man to the next man.”
“Altimus,” Lauren said quietly.
“But it sounds like you’re saying our mother was in the life, too,” Sydney said.
“What? Keisha was the life,” Uncle Larry said, getting more agitated. “Look, I shouldn’t be sitting here telling you all of this. It won’t mean nothing but more trouble for me. And I’ve spent many years making sure my name ain’t nowhere up in the middle of the mess Keisha and Altimus are into over here in the West End. She told me to stay out of their business a long time ago, when I questioned how she could get with her man’s best friend. She told me to take care of my family, and if I knew what was good for me, to let her worry about her own. She didn’t have to tell me but once. I know what she’s capable of. And now you do, too.”
“Does that mean she may have had something to do with my brother’s murder?” Jermaine asked, moving forward in his seat.
“I told you, youngblood, I don’t know nothing about all of that,” Uncle Larry practically growled. “What I do know is that anybody walking around here asking questions and giving people the ‘finding the real killer’ O.J. line is as good as a dead man walking, son. You should really think about that long and hard.
“Now,” Uncle Larry said, abruptly rising from his recliner, “I, unlike the rest of my family, have a legitimate job to get to, and I can’t be late.” He stood over the trio, his arms folded.
“Okay, then, Uncle Larry,” Sydney said, rising; Jermaine and Lauren did the same. “Thanks for, um, everything. It’s a lot, but we’re going to try to process it all and figure out what to do next.”
“I’m not so sure there’s much you can do, sweet pea,” Uncle Larry said, touching Sydney’s face. “Lord, y’all got my mama’s eyes, you know. I knew you two would grow up to be some knockouts. Dice and Keisha did know how to make some pretty babies.”
“Why, thank you, Uncle Larry,” Lauren gushed, squaring her shoulders and squeezing Jermaine’s hand.
“Just watch your back—and be careful about the company you keep,” Uncle Larry continued, giving Jermaine a slow once-over.
“Yo, out of respect for my girl here, I’m not going to get into it with you,” Jermaine said. “But you don’t know nothing about me, money. My brother is dead, and all I’m trying to do is find out who did it, and why. That was my fam, B. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t question?”
“You’d be alive, fam,” Uncle Larry said simply. “Alive.” And then, turning to Sydney, he said, “Look, I don’t need him walking out of my house in the company of you two, so I need youngblood here to go out first. Y’all go through the garage and get in my car. I’ll drop you off at the train station south of the West End stop, so nobody sees you leaving.”
The trio moved toward the steps.
“And I suggest that you not come back,” Uncle Larry added quietly.
13
SYDNEY
“Okay, I am so not mad,” Sydney murmured as she slowly made a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn in her full-length mirror. As a result of all the stress over the last month and a half, she’d dropped at least eight pounds without so much as one nasty wheat grass shot. Her once solid size four figure was now nearly a two. More important, the new dark gray stretch True Religion jeans she’d picked up at Jeffrey on her way home from
volunteering at the Better Day were fitting like a skinny bitch’s dream.
At the sound of her cell phone buzzing across her desk, Sydney hurried out of her closet. “Shoot,” she said, just missing the call. Pulling up the call history, she read Jason’s name. Immediately filled with guilt, Sydney debated calling him back now or after her coffee date. Finally, she put the phone down and headed into the closet to finish getting dressed.
Ten minutes later, Sydney was still undecided about the sequined print L.A.M.B. long-sleeve T-shirt she wore. Contrary to her normally much more conservative clothing picks, she had decided to celebrate her first time getting her hair blown out in over four years by trying something a little different. As she flipped her now pin-straight tresses, she thought it might be a tad too much. Marcus is already going to have a heart attack when he sees my hair, she thought as she pulled it over her head exposing a blue-and-white polka dot bra. Sydney reached for a plain white Calvin Klein wrap top with a deep V-neck. Once she added her red-banded Michele watch and the two-carat diamond solitaire necklace that matched her studs perfectly, she felt ready to go. “Not too bad,” she said to her reflection as she smoothed down the already straight middle part so that her slightly bumped hair perfectly framed her clear face.
She grabbed her cherry-red Fendi bag and headed out as soon as she heard a familiar light tapping at her semiclosed bedroom door. “Come in,” she called out.
“Miss Sydney, Marcus is waiting for you downstairs,” Edwina informed her with a small smile.
“Okay, thanks,” Sydney replied as she transferred the contents of the caramel-colored Hogan bag she rocked earlier in the day at school. “Um, quick question: Are my black ankle boots with the steel heel still downstairs?
“Yes, miss,” Edwina replied. “Would you like me to send Marcus up?”
“Actually, I’ll be down in two seconds,” Sydney replied as she tossed in her phone and scanned the room for the new pack of Dentyne Ice she had bought earlier.
If Only You Knew Page 12
