Ebony Angel (27 page)

Trae looked up from the chess game he was playing with Crystal. “Well, look who’s actually smiling. Welcome back.”

“I’ll have you know I’ve been smiling quite a bit all afternoon. Skeet kept me entertained while I prepared roast.”

“Don’t tell me you let him touch my food. What were you thinking?”

Crystal moved her bishop across the game board, capturing Trae’s king. “I win!”

His jaw dropped. “Why, you little cheat.” He picked up the offending bishop. “A few moves ago this thing went straight. Now you have it going diagonal. She’s cheating, Ebony.”

She leaned over the board, quickly assessing the situation. “Crystal, how did you end up with both of your bishops on black?”

“If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’,” Crystal boasted.

“What a crock of crap. Who told you that?” Trae asked.

“John at school.” She set the board up for another game.

“He’s an idiot. Don’t listen to him.” He tapped his Rolex. “It’s almost eight. You need to start your bath.”

“Oh, no. I forgot to call Smoke! I promised Skeet I would call him every night. Mama, can I call now? I’m sure he’s not in bed yet.”

Ebony suddenly had a tremendous headache. She would deal with Skeet, but first she needed to placate Crystal.

“That’s a long-distance call,” Trae said. “Those are extremely expensive. I’m sure Smoke will understand if you wait until he returns.”

“I’ll be right back.” Crystal ran off to her bedroom.

“Thanks, Trae. I thought with Richard out of town she would have more time to…”

Crystal ran into the room and stood in front of Ebony. “Skeet gave me this.” She held out a small cell phone.

Anger built within Ebony, but she tried to remain calm. “You’re too young for a cell phone, darling. Skeet should have asked me first.”

“But this isn’t a real cell phone. It only calls you, Trae, Skeet, Granny, Uncle Dan, and Smoke. It’s a phone for kids, and the calls are free.” She pointed to the seven. “All I do is hold down the seven and Smoke’s phone rings. I call him every day. You’re number two, Mama.”

Strangling Skeet was not an option.
Maybe a slow poison.
“Trae, would you start her bath? I have a call of my own to make. Only ten minutes, Crystal.” She went into her bedroom, dialing Skeet’s number on her cell phone.

“How could you?” she snapped at Skeet over the line, closing the door behind her.

He calmly replied, “Hello. This is Ebony. May I speak to Skeet? Or, since this is my private line, hello, Skeet. Now hang up and try again.” He hung up on her.

She mumbled a few expletives under her breath and prayed for strength. She redialed. “Hello, Skeet, this is Ebony,” she said calmly.

“Oh yes, I like this sweet, polite woman much better.”

“Why, thank you.” Maintaining her cool veneer, she continued, “If you pull any of that manipulative phone crap you did with Crystal again, I’ll cut you out of our lives completely.” She disconnected, tossed the phone on the computer desk, grabbed her pillow and sprawled out on the bed.

A few moments later the phone’s ringer played Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony.” Unable to deal with Skeet, she ignored it.

* * *

Trae came into the room, picked up the phone and answered it. “What?”

“You’re not Ebony,” Skeet said.

He frowned. “I know I’m not Ebony. What the hell you want?”

“I called Ebony’s phone because I want to speak to
Ebony
.”

“Well if she wanted to speak with you, she would have answered the damn phone herself. Now what the hell possessed you to give Crystal a cell phone? She’s only seven. And how the hell you gonna tell her to call Smoke?”

“I’m taking care of business.”

“You need to take care of your own business and step out of ours. Don’t make me put my foot up your ass.”

“What the…You threatening me? Aw, hell naw! I have something for your ass.” He hung up.

* * *

Trae pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. “Shit.” Disconnected. “Skeet’s on his way over.”

“Oh, great. Just what I need. Clash of the titans. Hand me the phone.” He handed over the phone. She dialed for reinforcements. “Hello, Auntie Genevieve, it’s Ebony. I have a favor to ask. Would you please call your son? He’s on his way over here to cause trouble with Trae. I’m not in the mood for him tonight. Thanks.” She disconnected and tossed the phone to the side.

Trae sat on the edge of the bed. “Don’t be too angry at him. His heart’s in the right place.”

“Weren’t you just threatening to put your foot somewhere not too pleasant?”

He chuckled. “I’m just protecting my girls.”

She smiled, then sobered. “I don’t know what to do. Richard’s leaving was the perfect opportunity for him to back out of Crystal’s life. By the time he returned, she wouldn’t ask for him as much. But Skeet’s been interfering this whole time.”

“I can’t believe she was asking for him. That has Skeet written all over it. I’ll talk to him. He’s making this harder on Crystal, not easier.”

“I agree. I can’t just cut Richard out of her life, but I don’t want to encourage their relationship.”

“It’ll all work out. I hate to rush off, but I’m heading to Genevieve’s.”

“She can handle Skeet. Give him more time to cool off.”

“He won’t be cooling off anytime soon.”

She watched him fidget with the crease in his jeans. He looked as though he had just been caught drinking milk out of the carton. The more she thought about it, the more shocked she was he hadn’t confided in Skeet. Skeet wouldn’t have told if Trae had been upfront.

“I did something really screwed up to Skeet. I mean really jacked the hell up.”

“Skeet’s been moping for weeks. Don’t let this get out of hand. Go apologize.”

“He knows I’m sorry.”

“I know Crystal loves me, but it always feels good to hear her say it. What did you do?” She opened the door for him to tell her he was going legit and waited for him to walk through. She would never be truly free of the drug world until he went legit, went to jail, or died.

“You’ve been through enough these past few weeks. I won’t put more on you. Let’s just say I was trying to do the right thing, but ended up doing wrong in the process. Something I definitely had no call to do. I’m off to apologize. What are you doing after class tomorrow?”

“I’ll be here cooking dinner.”

“Call me when class let’s out. I’ll pick you up. I need to talk to you about something. I’m off to straighten things out with Skeet. I’ll ask Marissa to watch Crystal.” He kissed her on the cheek and left.

She found her cell phone and dialed Skeet’s number. “Hello, Skeet.”

“How you gonna sic my mom on me?”

She sat in the computer chair, laughing. “You made me do it. I won’t tolerate you and Trae fighting.”

“I was totally out of line for giving Crystal the cell phone. I’ll discontinue the service tomorrow. Ever since Smoke was hurt, I’ve been trippin’. I’m just trying to set things right.”

“I know you were only trying to help, but I have this under control.” She prayed she sounded more confident than she felt. The more she thought about Richard, the more she wanted to confront him. He said he needed someone who would believe in him no matter what, and she did.

“He loves you, Ebony.”

“Maybe he does, but love isn’t enough. He’s made his decision, and we have to live with it. Love isn’t enough…”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Provide a safe and loving environment to raise my child in.”

“What about falling in love?”

“Love hurts too much. I’ve been down that road twice now. I’m a slow learner, but not that slow.”

His low rumble laugh came over the phone line, warming her heart. “Yeah, right. You’re slow, and I don’t talk too much. But you’re wrong about something.”

“Well, no one’s perfect.” She heard Crystal splashing in the tub.

“I’m being serious. You’ve only been in love once. You were never in love with Trae.”

“Of course I was. I know my feelings.”

“You loved Trae. You still do. But you were never in love with him. You two played house so many years, it was a given you’d be married someday. You were comfortable with him. Not in love.”

“We were so young.”

“I remember when you broke up with Trae. You were angry with him and yourself, not hurt like you are now. I gotta go. Trae’s here. Call Smoke. True love only comes once.” He disconnected.

Ebony lay across the bed, thinking about Skeet’s words.
For a knucklehead, he sure is insightful.
In the larger scheme of things, her past feelings for Trae didn’t matter. All that mattered was providing a safe and happy home for Crystal.

Stuck in a traffic jam on the Dan Ryan expressway, Ebony opened the bag of jumbo fried shrimp Trae had brought with him. “Want one?” She took a bite, savoring the flavor as it rolled over her tongue. Goose Island Restaurant made the best shrimp in town.

Trae glanced at her. “I was saving those for when we stop.”

“It’s almost two, and I haven’t eaten all day.” She rubbed his bottom lip with a shrimp. “Come on. You know you want it.”

The passion that flared in his eyes suffocated Ebony. The two had always teased like this, but he hadn’t looked at her like this in years. When they were teens, his passion scared her, as it did now. Unlike Richard’s warm, loving passion that was somehow liberating, Trae’s was an all–consuming, confining passion that made her feel trapped. She still didn’t understand this reaction to him.

“You’re playing with fire,” he said huskily. He took a bite and brushed his lips over her fingers. An awkward silence filled the car. She watched the traffic, her mind darting here and there. For early May, it was awfully warm—in the eighties. She wished her mind were half as clear as the beautiful spring day, but it was as jumbled as the traffic jam they were weaving through. Trae merged his black Jaguar into the lanes headed toward Chinatown.

His look scared her for another reason; it told her he had decided to pursue her. She buried the thought. He had to know by now that she wouldn’t have a relationship with a drug dealer. Then again, Skeet had said Trae was leaving the life.

He waited at the Chinatown entrance stoplight, turned right, away from Chinatown, and went under the viaduct to the next set of lights. “You all right?” He turned the corner and headed toward downtown Chicago.

“Yeah.” She prayed for something to talk about besides how
not all right
she was. She focused on the buildings they passed, and was surprised. “They’ve really built this area up, haven’t they? These town houses are nice. I’ll bet they cost an arm and a leg.”

“Nah, they aren’t that much. Just a leg and a finger.”

She laughed.

“Do you like them?”

“I love them, but I wouldn’t want to live on a busy street. In a few years, I’ll be able to afford something like this.”

“Check this out.” He turned the corner into the town-house complex, drove to the center of the community where the park was located, and pulled into a parking space.

“Hidden Oasis. I love the name,” Ebony said. “And this park is too cute.” The small park, about the size of two neighborhood blocks, was surrounded by town houses. “This is really nice. The folks who live across the street are lucky.” She stepped out of the Jaguar and ran to the swing set. Trae followed with the shrimp.

He handed her the bag of shrimp, and then stood behind her, pushing her gently in the swing while she ate. “This is a nice neighborhood,” Trae commented.

“It sure is.” She handed him a shrimp. She didn’t make the mistake of facing him. “This is what a neighborhood is supposed to be like. It’s so quiet. People are actually at work instead of roaming the street getting into trouble.” She watched a woman pushing a stroller around the walking path, a few kids in the middle of their terrible twos climbing all over the slide and a small team of four-year-olds playing at wiffle ball.

He continued pushing the swing. “I can imagine Crystal running around this park. She would take over in no time. The trees would become her second home.”

In her mind’s eye she saw Crystal climbing trees, hopping from limb to limb, worrying Ebony to death. “Yeah, it would be nice for her to have somewhere to run besides in the house. I’m moving Crystal to a place like this someday.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yep.” She handed him the last shrimp.

He held her hand and led her toward one of the sets of five town houses. He took the empty shrimp bag from her, and tossed it into the trashcan as they passed. Each set was similar. The end homes were ranch styles, perfect for a small family, and the middle three were bi-levels. The center home was the largest.

He stopped at the bottom of the steps. “Let’s go inside.”

“We can’t walk into people’s homes, Trae.”