I was positively tickled pink by Dr. Seibert.
With Cutter shut down, the doctor said, “She’s awake—groggy, but awake. Both of you individually can have two minutes. That’s it. She needs rest. Am I understood?”
Jimmy said, “Yessir. Thank you.”
Cutter said, “Cool.”
Dr. Seibert left, presumably to check on his myriad other patients.
Jimmy went behind the curtain to see his mother. I stood guard outside the curtain.
I heard a woman’s slurred voice say, “Jimmy? Baby, tha’s you? I—you come for your momma, didn’t you, baby.”
After a silent moment, I heard Jimmy’s low, rattled voice. “I’m here to tell you don’t ever come looking for me again. Don’t send my so-called brother lookin’ for me. Maybe you gave birth to me—and I ain’t even sure about that—but you ain’t never been no momma.”
“Oh, baby—why you—why you got to be—”
Cutter took a step forward and I stepped into him.
“Can you fire a gun that’s been shoved up your chicken-and-biscuit black ass?” I said. “Frankly, I’d pay good money to see that.”
Cutter dropped back.
“You’re nothing to me,” I heard Jimmy say. “Don’t never come near me again.”
Jimmy threw the curtain aside and stormed toward the elevator.
“Show up in my neck of the woods again and Jimmy won’t have to lift a finger,” I said to Cutter, “I’ll do the killing. I will do it slow and I will do it in ways even the devil can’t imagine. So . . . I mean . . . we cool?”
I didn’t wait around for an answer.
In the car, Jimmy wept for a couple minutes then apologized.
“Nothing to apologize for,” I said. “Been kind of rough lately. For both of us.”
“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “Rough. Lucy gone. Carlos . . .”
“I know exactly what you need.”
“Ice cream?”
“Uh—no.”
“The block party tomorrow?” Jimmy guessed.
Forty minutes later, Jimmy and I were in our karate karategi—him with his blue belt, me with my fourth-degree black belt.
“Good to see you, Mr. Snow,” Kinsey Latrice—K from the Nappy Patch strip club—said.
“Job’s working out?” I said.
“Job’s workin’ out,” K said grinning.
“I heard somebody ’bout to get they butt kicked,” Brutus said, entering the upstairs dojo.
“Just stay out of the way, old man,” I said to Brutus. Then I turned to Jimmy and said, “Don’t hold back. Use what you know. Improvise. And—”
I didn’t have to opportunity to finish my thought.
Jimmy came in quick, grabbed the lapels of my karategi, shoved a boney right hip into me and flipped me.
I landed on the mat.
Hard.
Boisterous laughter from a corner of the dojo.
“Oh, God!” Jimmy said. “Mr. Snow! God, I’m sorry! I am so—”
“What?” I forced a laugh. “Like you hurt me or something?”
He’d hurt me.
“Hey!” I shouted to Brutus and K. “Go ahead and laugh! Once I’m up, I’m in everybody’s ass starting with you, old man. So y’all better start runnin’.” I held my hand up to Jimmy and quietly grunted, “Help me up, kid.”
Lives Laid Away Page 24
