Get Somebody New (21 page)

“Ma!”

“Ass!” She
finished her sentence determinedly.

“Chile he is so
high brow just like his daddy, you will like him. He is going to love you. He
loves us beautiful light skinned women.”

“Mamma you’re
gonna have Rachel thinking our family is color struck or something.”

“Well Alton
she has a point. We are beautiful aren’t we?”

“Baby, I’m
just saying that….”

“Aren’t we?”
I asked cutting him off.”

“Of course
you are and I love both of you.”

“Ain’t he a
sweetheart?” his mother asked while poking me gently with her elbow.

“Yes he is.”
I said as I winked back at her.

Mrs. Allen
cooked a delicious dinner of standard southern fare. We had Fried Chicken,
Macaroni and Cheese casserole, Sweet Cornbread, Green Beans and Collard greens.

“Mrs. Allen
these collard greens are the best ever. My God they are good!”

“Thank you,
I’ll give you my secret before you go. Girl you know you are alright with me.
See Alton this girl knows how to say it the right way.”

“Huh?” I
asked.

“She is
talking about Nadiah.” He answered.

“Miss Prissy
Ass walked in here putting on airs. Heffa talking about ‘Oh Mrs. Allen the
CooLards are absolutely wonderful’. I said Coolards? I knew then she wasn’t my
cup of tea. She was too proper for me with her fake ass.”

“Coolards
huh? That’s a switch.”

“Hey
Everybody! Alton? Hey son good to see you. Who is this pretty little thing
here?” His dad asked as he entered.

“Oh Dad this
is Rachel.”

“Get out of
here! You are a very beautiful young lady.” Mr. Allen said.

“This time he
followed my example and found someone more like his mother. Huh baby?” He said.

“That’s
right. Hollister sit on down, I’ll fix your plate in a sec.” Mrs. Allen
answered.    

“Thanks
babe.”

I looked from
Alton’s father to Alton at least 4 times. I couldn’t believe how much they
looked alike. His father looked only about 10 years older than him. They were virtual
twins of each other, but Alton still had some of his mother’s features too. He
got his eyes from his dad; whose was the same beautiful golden color. His
parents were the warmest, down to earth people I’d ever met.

“We got a
surprise for you too, Alton.”

“I’ve had
enough surprises for today. The hospital people made a mistake and brought
Nadiah to the house. She got out of the van and clowned like never before. The
grace of God and Rachel kept me from killing her, I’m serious.”  

“That girl is
off. I’ve been telling you that. Nobody is naturally that mean unless they are
crazy. I know you didn’t do what you should have done to her ass. All she needs
is a sound ass whuppin’.”

“I tried to
deal with her like I usually do, but this time she just wouldn’t leave me
alone. She wouldn’t go and she just kept on and on. Before I knew it I’d
grabbed her by her head and picked her up with both hands. Something in me
snapped and I flung her across the yard like a rag doll. She was coming back
toward me, but I shocked her because I was coming at her just as fast. I
grabbed her with my left hand and had my right hook ready. The next thing I
remember was Rachel behind me holding my arm screaming my
name.”      

“That girl doesn’t
know how close she came to the other side today. I wasn’t going to let Alton do
something that could get him in trouble. I’ve never seen him as upset as he was
today. He looked like a different person.”   

“I don’t ever
want to get that way again. I felt so ashamed of myself for losing control like
that.”

“Excuse me
for not being sympathetic, but she was long overdue. God’s knows where to put
us and when. She still ain’t safe from me. You think I’m playing? Let me see
her out somewhere. I’ll be on the news I promise you. The only reason I didn’t
get her when she was here calling me all kinds of bitches outside my house is
because I had that baby in here.” Mrs. Allen commented.

“She did
what?”

“It was a day
before the court date. She ran over here thinking she was going to take Paige.
My mom didn’t open the door. She stood out in the yard and called my mom out of
her name and accused Ma of kidnapping Paige. I came and tried to get her to go
home and of course she attacked me. She kicked me in the leg and scratched my
face up. When the police came she went into actress mode and said I punched her
in the face. They slapped cuffs on her because they knew she was lying. She
came to the divorce hearing in an orange jumpsuit.”

“That’s a
shame.” I said.

“No that’s a
damn shame!” His mother corrected.

I noticed
that Hollister had remained quiet when Nadiah’s name came up.

“She didn’t
get along with your father either?”

“Not after
she falsely accused him of making a pass at her.”

“Evil, Alton.
I told you, she’s evil.”

“It was an
obvious lie because she said he did it during a party we had. She said it
happened in the garage. There is a surveillance camera in there that captures
the whole garage. The place she said it happened was recorded. We looked at the
tape and he never even went in the garage. We didn’t watch to prove him
innocent, we knew he hadn’t even been in the garage, but we wanted to show her
proof we knew she was lying. My dad would never do anything like that. That’s
why he gets quiet when she is mentioned.”    

“I have
nothing good to say so I say nothing. I have one good thing to say about
her…….she’s gone! Hallelujah.”

“Uh oh I
smell Burberry Touch that means Bo is here.” A female said loudly from the
front of the house.

“Muffin!”
Alton shouted loudly. Alton jumped up from the table and bolted out of the
kitchen like an Olympic sprinter.

“That was the
surprise I was gonna tell him about. It’s his sister, Marion.”

Alton walked
back into the dining room with a strikingly beautiful woman.

“Rachel this
is my sister Marion. Muff this is Rachel.”

“Thank God!”
She exclaimed.

“I am glad to
finally meet you. I’ve heard plenty about you, trust me.” She
continued.   

His sister
looked like his mother with subtle features from his dad. Her color was like a
perfect tan. Her hair was thick and hung in long curls ending at her waist. She
had slanted eyes like his mother and her eyes were hazel as well. She was also
tall with legs that went on forever.

“She is seven
years younger than Alton and he took his role as big brother seriously. He
really spoiled this girl. Giving her everything she asked for, waiting on her
hand and foot, and fighting all her battles.”

“Oh mama,
that’s my Bo! He loves his little sis. Ain’t that right, Bo?”

“Of course, I
do.” Alton responded.

“Rachel,
Marion is a model. She just got back from a photo shoot in Europe.” Alton
beamed.

“That sounds
exciting!”

“It is
exciting. People always ask if it’s stressful but it’s not unless you let it
be. Those white girls walk around eating half a cracker and a grape for dinner
and trying to stay rail thin. I don’t have time for that. I’m mindful of what I
eat and work out. If I want cake I eat cake.”

“People want
badly to fit into the cookie cutter mold that the media and others force feed
us at every opportunity. I work out and eat what I want too.” I replied.

“Alton, I
like this girl already.”

“Thanks, I
love her too.” He responded.

“Mother did
you prepare any CooLard greens this evening? We all love them so much?” Marion
asked.

Everyone erupted
in laughter at the running joke.

Twelve

Ezekiel Nelson

Running back
and forth to jail was not something I planned on in my relationship with Jazz.
The incident with Jamal was not his fault so I didn’t hold that against him.
Jazz was blessed because he had done plenty of things to land in jail but just
didn’t get caught. He couldn’t continue to rely on that type of luck though.
The older one gets the higher the stakes are with more to lose. I understood
that he was upset with Marcus, but he could have handled it differently.

Once I
figured he’d been booked I went down to the station and tried to see what to
do. I tried to hide my frustration but I didn’t do it very well.

“I messed up,
I know. I let you down Zeke, but I’m gonna fix this.”

“Jazz you
have your way of handling things, but you have to make better decisions.
Fighting isn’t the way to handle everything.”

“I know that.
He just made me so damn mad. He had it coming.”

“Did what I
said totally miss you? You are still rationalizing your actions. You aren’t
going to change anything until you see that it was wrong.”

“I see your
point, but I disagree with you. You have no idea how that could have exploded
on me. “

“Whatever.
What are you gonna do to get out of here.”

“If you’re
gonna get an attitude because I won’t sit and let you lecture and scold me like
a goddamned child then you can go home. I don’t need to be told over and over
by you how I was wrong to do what I did. Obviously I did something wrong
because I’m here.”

“Jazz every
minute you spend in here is time you are away from me. I worry about you in
here because I know you don’t belong in here. You are better than this.”

“Zeke I know
it’s hard to face, but I am a street nigga, a thug and that’s all I’m ever
gonna be. I was born in prison. Hustling is the only life I know. I was crazy
to ever think I could do anything with my life. We are from different worlds.
The crazy part is when I was on the street I never ended up in here. So maybe
that’s where I belong.”

“Maybe so
Jazz, anyway I need to get the ball rolling. Give me a few hours.”

“Hold up
Zeke. What was that shit supposed to mean?”

“What?”

“Maybe so,
Jazz? What are you trying to say? Are these your true feelings coming out? Was
I the hood nigga you decided to take on as a project for your good deed? Well
this dumb, uneducated thug thanks you, but I don’t need yours or anyone else’s
pity, you understand?”

When Jazz
spoke to me like that, I was simply dumbfounded. What could I say to that? He
felt under attack and decided he needed to turn against me. His words hurt me
more than they angered me because they were a complete blindside.

“You are so
fucking far off the mark. You always feel like you need to prove something to
somebody.”

“Zeke what
are…?”

“Shut the
hell up! You said a mouthful so I’m gonna respond!”

“So you’ve
had to fight who hasn’t? In case you bothered to look I am not your damn enemy.
If you could take a break from trying to fight the universe you would realize when
someone loves you more than anything in the world. Stop being such a jerk for
just a moment will you?”

I felt tears
forming so I left in a hurry before they started.

I called the
one person that might possibly untangle the confusion in my mind.

“Alton, what
do you make of that? I mean he talked to me like a complete stranger.”

“Zeke I think
he has an inferiority complex. He felt like you were judging him when you
pointed out his wrongdoing. He’s never had anyone tell him fighting was wrong.
He always resorts to violence when he’s upset because that’s the only thing he
knows to do. Telling him he is wrong for it is almost like telling him he is
wrong for walking or breathing because it is so much a part of who he is.”

“Lord knows I
didn’t mean to make him feel like that. I just had to get out of there
because…. Never mind.”

“Never mind?
You were about to what?”

“That’s okay
I thought about it but I don’t want to finish that sentence.”

“Zeke, did he
make you cry? He did didn’t he?”

“Just let it
go Alton.”

“Zeke you
already told me. You know you can’t tell me to let it go.”

“This must be
him, it’s collect.” I said after hearing the beep and seeing the call waiting
caller ID screen.

“Well go
ahead and talk. Call me back when you get done and don’t think I’m gonna
forget.” Alton replied.

“Hello?”

“You have a
collect call from the DeKalb Jail. Will you accept the charges?”

“Yes.”

“Hello?”

“I’m sorry
babe.” The voice faintly whispered.

“Jazz?”

“Yeah. Zeke
I’m sorry and I didn’t mean that shit I said. I don’t know why I said it. Guess
I was mad and took it out on you. I’m so sorry Zeke.”

“Apology
accepted. Jazz I wasn’t judging you. I’d never do that. I’m sorry if it came
off that way.”

“I’ll never
forgive myself for making you cry. I know you cried when you left here and you
can’t tell me you didn’t.”

“No comment.”

“I called my
lawyer Mr. Hamlin. He said he wouldn’t be able to get to me until tomorrow.”

“I already
talked to Randall Craven.”

“Randall
Craven, the big celebrity lawyer?”

“Yes. He will
take the case, but I told him I needed to talk to you first.”

“How much is
he charging? I got about six hundred grand in savings. This is a bullshit
case.”

“Don’t worry
about the money. He is a family friend.”

“Family
friend, you didn’t date him did you?”

“No he and Alton
went to college together. They are close friends.”

“Tell him
O.K. How soon do you think he can make something happen?”

“He is just
waiting for me to call him back. Hold on, I’ll do a conference call with him.”

I called
Randall and conferenced him in. After hearing the particulars Randall said he’d
call me back in a few minutes. I figured it would take a couple of hours for
him to untangle that web so I decided to take a shower. As soon as the water
got hot, my doorbell rang. I considered not answering the door, but was glad I
didn’t because it turned out to be Randall.