I turn off the radio, find my phone book with the rubber band around it, and look up the number of Pastor Day’s enemy and my personal angel.
The phone rings twice, and after the person on the other end says hello, I respond by saying, “Dr. Rodney, what are you up to now?”
chapter two
Gemini returns to school after losing her son
Gemini waited outside of the principal’s office, pissed off and ready for an argument. It was getting tiresome having to appear before “his highass” Principal Lancaster. If people would just leave her alone and stop trying to spread her business around, she wouldn’t be here.
Rhonda Martin had been spreading rumors about her being held back, and Gemini did not appreciate it. When Gemini spotted Rhonda at her locker after lunch, she walked up behind her without the school gossip’s knowledge. Rhonda was startled when she felt a tap on her shoulder and was genuinely struck with fear when she turned around to face Gemini.
Rhonda went into shock and to the floor simultaneously, due to the punch to her right cheek and the kick to her stomach.
“Stay out of my business, and you’ll stay out of the hospital,” Gemini said bending over her.
The dean of students, Mr. Porter, was turning the corner as he was heading to the girl’s gym and witnessed the knockout. “Raymo” Connors was also headed towards the gym and witnessed the fight. On Dean Porter’s orders, he ran to get the nurse.
“Gemini, you stand right there. Don’t you move!” the dean shouted.
“I ain’t going anywhere, and she had no business talking about me. I am sick of people always talking about me!”
The nurse arrived and helped Rhonda to her feet. She walked her back to her office. The dean escorted Gemini to what had become a frequent destination for her: the principal’s office. Students who were still in the hallway watched the two make their way towards Mr. Lancaster’s office, but everyone remained silent. Everyone knew that Gemini Jones was crazy as hell and that if you made her mad, she was coming after you. Even the known gangsters in the school kept their mouths shut. Gemini jones was no joke.
“This is your third offense this month, missy,” the dean said. “You know this means that you will be suspended for two weeks. And, I am going to recommend that you be kicked out of here and sent to an alternative school—a place for students just like you.”
“Do you mean students who know better than to talk about people and know how to mind their own business? Well if that’s the case, send me to that school, I’ll be just fine.”
“You have a smart mouth, young lady, and that is going to get you in trouble one day. You don’t know when to keep your mouth shut.”
“Rhonda doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut either, but I don’t see her sitting here waiting to see the principal. Oh wait, she’s in the nurse’s office getting her jaw checked!”
“Shut up for the last time, Miss Jones, or you will find yourself in more trouble than you can handle.”
“Yeah right,” Gemini said under her breath.
Dean Porter asked to speak with the principal but was told that he would have to wait because Lancaster was in a meeting. The secretary told the principal the reason for the dean’s visit. Yes, Gemini Jones had been fighting, and yes, this was her third offense this month. After a few minutes, the secretary received a call from the principal, who then told the dean that he was needed in the meeting. An hour later, the dean walked out of the principal’s office, looked at Gemini, shook his head, and left.
Principal Lancaster walked out of the room a few minutes later and said, “Miss Jones, will you step into my office?”
This is it, Gemini thought as she entered the room. She was going to be expelled and sent to that alternative school for students who know how to keep their mouths shut.
As Gemini entered the room, the person who was meeting with the principal looked up at her and stood.
“Gemini, I would like for you to meet Dr. Rodney Earls. Dr. Earls, this is Gemini Jones.” He then turned to me and said, “Mrs. Rufus and I thought it would be good for you two to meet. We want to make sure that you are ready to attend the career center in the fall. We think that Dr. Earls can help you make that transition successfully.”
Dr. Rodney Earls extended his hand, and after some hesitation, Gemini shook it. Who was this man, and why was he trying to be so nice to her? Grownups were never nice to her; they all thought of her as a troublemaker and never passed up an opportunity to remind her. They weren’t so perfect themselves. Most of them were hypocrites and didn’t think anybody knew it. Take Dean Porter, for instance: He had a wife and kids, but he was sleeping with the gym teacher, who was married also.
Principal Lancaster—or his “highass,” as everyone called him—was okay, but if you dug deep enough, you could probably find out he was up to no good as well.
Now here was this Dr. Earls, acting like he was trying to be nice. Maybe he was a shrink who was acting nice to try to catch her off guard or something like that.
Maybe they were going to try to send her to a crazy house or somewhere like the hell hole she’d just left. Let them try to send her away again; she would run away and never be found. She had some money that her parents had given her, and she could use that to run away to California. Out there, she could try to get into the movies or television. She was good at acting, and she knew she could make it.
But he did say that Mrs. Rufus thought meeting this man was a good idea, and Gemini trusted her. She was responsible for Gemini getting into the career center in the fall, where she would become a broadcasting student. It was a two-year course, and Mrs. Rufus thought it would be a good change for her. She decided to listen to what he had to say.
“Gemini, Dr. Earls has a program I think you would be interested in. It’s a program for students like yourself who have had some rough times. This program would provide you a means to talk about things with other kids like yourself and work through the hurt and pain you are experiencing. I think this will help you adjust to what has happened to you in the past. Of course, the meetings are confidential, and your parents do not have to be present. You are filled with so much anger that right now you are a danger to yourself and others. I’m going to leave the two of you to talk for a while. Gemini, you know that fork in the road that I am always telling you about? Well, you have come to it. Mrs. Rufus and I hope you choose wisely.”
That brought a bit of encouragement to Gemini, and she liked the feeling.
Principal Lancaster left the room, leaving Gemini alone with this man she didn’t know. The two had remained standing while the principal made the introductions.
“Have a seat, Gemini. I’d like to tell you a little about myself and about the program.”
The two of them sat opposite each other, and after what seemed an eternity of silence, Dr. Earls spoke.
“Let me ask you this, Gemini: What is the future of your past?”
Did he just step off a spaceship, Gemini asked herself. What the hell kind of question is that?
“What do you mean by that?” Gemini responded.
“Just what I said. What is the future of your past?”
“I didn’t know pasts had futures! That is the dumbest question I ever heard.”
“So, you don’t know the answer?”
“I don’t even understand the question. How am I supposed to answer what I don’t understand in the first place?!”
“At least you’re honest in that you don’t understand what I am asking.”
“The question is: Do you understand what you are asking? If you do, that makes one of us.”
That remark made Dr. Earls chuckle.
“You have a sense of humor, I see. Quick wit can get you far in life.”
He had complimented her, and that was a first. No adult had ever complimented her on her wit. Most thought that she
was a smartass and told her that repeatedly. This man thought she was funny, and he really sounded sincere.
“This program will help you answer the question I have asked you. It will help you learn the future of your past. We meet twice a week in the evenings and once on Saturday. The program is not limited to group discussions on problems and issues. This program offers you the opportunity to express yourself in any way you want, and we offer a chance to learn about who you are as a person. I’m not going to run through the whole program with you, but I am offering you the chance to join.”
“You haven’t finished what you started, Dr. Earls. You said you were going to tell me a little bit about you.”
She has a mind like a steel trap, Rodney thought. This young lady has gone through something awful that has filled her with rage, but underneath that rage is a young lady with a brain, and she knows how to use it.
“You’re right, Gemini. Let me start by saying that at the age of 15, I had already been kicked out of every high school in Gary and had to go to night school. At 18, I was forced to join the army by the courts. Military life changed me; getting beyond this city and seeing other places in the world really opened my eyes. I saw the wonderful and the horrific, especially during my tour in Vietnam. It is still hard for me to talk about my time there. I was an angry young man when I entered the military. My home life was not the best, and I was destined to be a product of my environment. But when I left the army, I was worse than when I entered. I have suffered through years of pain and torment over the things I’d witnessed during my tour of duty. But I managed to continue my education, and I completed my doctoral degree last year.”
“So, are you some sort of shrink?”
“No, Gemini, my doctorate is in social work.”
“You mean you work for the welfare department?”
That remark made Rodney chuckle again.
“No, Gemini, I am what you call a counselor. I help young people with troubled pasts, like the two of us.”
“So, you help people like me find themselves…like those hippies did in the sixties?”
“I don’t do it with drugs, but something like that.”
“So, will we be going on trips and stuff like that, or are we just going to be meeting and talking two times a week and once on Saturday?”
“There are field trips twice a year. I want to show you the world outside of Gary, Indiana. There is one, you know. So, what do you think, Gemini, is this program something you would be interested in? If you are, Principal Lancaster will get your parents’ permission.”
“Before or after I go on suspension?”
“Before, I think.”
“Well, then see me after the suspension. I’m sure my daddy will say no.”
“I have a feeling that your parents are going to approve, so will you say yes?”
“Alright, Dr. Earls, since you are so sure my parents are going to say yes, then okay; I’ll do it.”
As if on cue, Principal Lancaster entered the room and was told that Gemini had agreed to enter the program. To Gemini’s surprise, the principal had already discussed this with her parents, who were coming to pick her up. She was being suspended for five days.
“I will come by your home to introduce myself to your parents,” Rodney said to Gemini. “My wife and I like to meet with all the parents on a one-on-one basis. I have another meeting to attend, but Principal Lancaster will make sure that I get your home address and phone number. Nice meeting you, Gemini. Looking forward to more of that quick wit of yours.”
Gemini’s parents arrived shortly after Dr. Earls’ departure to take Gemini home. The principal informed them of the meeting that had taken place between Dr. Earls and their daughter. He assured them that this program would be beneficial to Gemini, and he told them that Dr. Earls and his wife would stop by their home to discuss the program and answer any questions they may have.
Gemini’s father yelled at her all the way home, but for the first time, Gemini was able to drown him out. She was busy thinking about the question Dr. Earls had asked her.
What is the future of your past?
---
The first meeting with Dr. Earls took place a week after Gemini returned to school from suspension. His counselor’s office was in midtown, which was not far from Gemini’s home. Her father wanted to drive her to the meeting, but her mother persuaded him to let her take the bus. Gemini liked taking the bus—she liked being alone to think. No one understood the pain she had to deal with. She thought about her son and where he had been taken. She thought about the family who had adopted him, although she had no idea who they were. She thought about “Bitch” Wells and how one day she would find her and beat her within an inch of her life. She thought about her friends, Savannah and Ruthann, and how they were adjusting to being home. Ruthann hated her stepfather, who was also the father of her son. Ruthann hated her mother even more, because she had done nothing to stop the abuse that her husband inflicted on her daughter.
Savannah’s parents were very religious—especially the father—and Gemini knew she was catching hell at home.
Then there was the battle with her own parents. Her mother had explained the reason for sending her to Mamie Wells to have her baby, but that was bull as far as Gemini was concerned. The real reason was because her father was embarrassed and didn’t want folks talking about his family. The arguments that she had with her father happened daily, but she was angry at the two of them as well as the rest of the world.
Gemini exited the bus on 21st and Broadway and walked two blocks to Dr. Earls’ office. The sign on the building said “The Redemption Center” and listed Dr. Earls and his wife, Mrs. Aurelia Christine Earls, as the owners.
After ringing the bell, the door opened and a short, very fair-skinned girl who was younger than Gemini, stood in the doorway.
She looked Gemini up and down and asked, “Are you the new girl? Is your name Gemini Jones?”
“That’s the name on my birth certificate,” Gemini answered.
“Come on in. I’ll tell Daddy Rodney that you’re here.”
“Are you his daughter?” Gemini asked.
“Naw, I ain’t got no mama or daddy, I just call him that. He and Mama Aurelia let me stay here when my grandmother has to work.”
“Where are your parents?”
“Dead, both of them. That’s why I live with my grandmother.”
“I didn’t get your name, little girl.”
“I didn’t give it, and I ain’t no little girl. I’m seven going on eight,” the young girl snapped.
Gemini liked her instantly. She reminded her of herself, but a younger version. She did not look like a girl of seven; she was short and chubby for her age. She was cute, Gemini thought. She and Savannah had the same light complexion, but Savannah’s eyes were brown, and this girl’s eyes were amber. She wore her hair in two braids that were quite thick and long. Her clothes were a little too old for her as if she was trying to look like a teenager.
“Are you going to tell me your name, little girl?” Gemini asked, laughing to let her know she was joking.
“My name is Antoinette Flowers, and I told you, I ain’t no little girl.”
“Nice to meet you, Antoinette Flowers.”
“La dee damn da; nice to meet you, Gemini Jones.”
The two girls laughed, and Antoinette showed Gemini where the meeting was to take place. Somehow, they were going to be friends, Gemini said to herself. She liked Antoinette, loved her spunk and her sense of humor.
“Does Dr. Earls know you use curse words?” Gemini asked her new friend.
“Yep, and he don’t care so long as I don’t go overboard. You should hear my grandmother. She cusses like a hoe short on money. Dr. Earls believes in letting people be themselves. He knows I don’t curse all the time; I just do it to make people laugh. It worked on you,
didn’t it?”
“You’re a funny little girl, Antoinette,” Gemini said jokingly. She knew she would get a reaction out of the young girl.
“And you must have hearing problems, because I have stated before that I ain’t no little girl!”
The meeting with Dr. Earls and the other members of the group started about twenty minutes after Gemini arrived. There were six others in the group and Dr. Earls presided over the meeting. Antoinette stayed in the next room, watching television or playing the stereo that someone had donated to the program. From the music that she played, Gemini sensed that she spent a lot of time around older people. Artists like Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, Marvin Gaye, and Roberta Flack could be heard playing during the meeting. Gemini liked the songs that Antoinette played and made a mental note to bring some albums with her the next time they met.
A prayer was said before the start of the meeting. Dr. Earls said that each participant would be given the opportunity to lead a prayer. After the prayer, Dr. Earls began to talk about the purpose of the program, what he hoped each participant would accomplish, and what the program consisted of.
“Some of you are here voluntarily,” he stated. “Some of you are here by court order. Whatever the reason that you are here, I hope you leave this program with a new sense of direction and purpose.”
He then asked each person to state their name and what they hoped to get out of attending these sessions. The first to speak, a boy named Tyrone Evans, stated that all he wanted was to get out of the house he shared with his ten brothers and four sisters. He was tired of being in a house full of people where you couldn’t hear yourself think.
The Future of My Past Page 2
